The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
Page 50
536 Spk: “That knowledge” (taṃ ñāṇaṃ) is the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. In pāda a of the next verse I read bhetvā with Se and Ee1 & 2, as against chetvā in Be.
537 It seems that while the preceding two verses describe the arahant, this verse describes the sekha, the trainee, who is still striving to attain Nibbāna.
538 Spk glosses cheta with migaluddaka, a deer-hunter. He had gone out that morning to hunt and was pursuing a deer when he came upon the elder meditating in the woods. The elder set about teaching him the Dhamma, but though the hunter looked with his eyes and listened with his ears, his mind still ran in pursuit of the deer.
539 Geiger has caught the sense: “It seemed to the devatā that discontent with the monastic life had overcome the bhikkhus and they had given it up” (GermTr, p. 311, n. 2). On arati see n. 486.
540 Spk: Just as deer, wandering in the foothills or woodland thickets, wander wherever they find pleasant pastureland and dangers are absent, and have no attachment to their parents’ property or a family heirloom, so the homeless bhikkhus, without fixed abode, wander wherever they can easily find suitable climate, food, companionship, lodgings, and Dhamma-teachings, and have no attachment to the property of their teacher and preceptor or to a family heirloom.
541 Spk: This sutta takes place shortly after the Buddha’s parinibbāna. The Venerable Mahākassapa had enjoined Ānanda to attain arahantship before the first Buddhist council convened, scheduled to begin during the rains retreat. Ānanda had gone to the Kosala country and entered a forest abode to meditate, but when the people found out he was there they continually came to him lamenting over the demise of the Master. Thus Ānanda constantly had to instruct them in the law of impermanence. The devatā, aware that the council could succeed only if Ānanda attended as an arahant, came to incite him to resume his meditation.
542 At Th 119 the verse is ascribed to one Vajjiputtaka Thera but is not found among Ānanda’s own verses in Th.All four eds. read pāda b: Nibbānaṃ hadayasmiṃ opiya. At Th 119 the last word is read osiya, and we should adopt this reading here. I take it as absolutive of the verb oseti proposed by Norman at EV I, n. to 119; see too n. 223 above. Spk supports this with its gloss pakkhipitvā, “having placed.” Spk explains that one deposits Nibbāna in one’s heart by way of function (kiccato) and by way of object (ārammaṇato): by way of function when one arouses energy with the thought, “I will attain Nibbāna”; by way of object when one sits absorbed in a meditative attainment having Nibbāna as its object (i.e., in phalasamāpatti, the attainment of fruition).
In pāda d, biḷibiḷikā is explained by Spk-pṭ as purposeless activity (atthavirahitā pavattā kiriyā). The devatā refers thus to Ānanda’s talk with the lay people because it does not conduce to his attainment of the goal of the holy life.
543 Her name Jālinı̄, “Ensnarer,” is used as an epithet for taṇhā at v. 460a; see too n. 278 and AN II 211,31. According to Spk, she had been his chief consort in their immediately preceding existence in the Tāvatiṃsa heaven.
544 Spk: They are not duggata in the sense that they live in a miserable realm (duggati), for they dwell in a fortunate realm enjoying their success. They are miserable because of their conduct, for when they expire they might be reborn even in hell.In pāda b, sakkāya, “identity,” is the compound of the five aggregates of clinging, which are all suffering (dukkha) because of their impermanence. Spk explains that the celestial maidens are “established in identity” (sakkāyasmiṃ patiṭṭhitā) for eight reasons: because of lust, hatred, delusion, views, the underlying tendencies, conceit, doubt, and restlessness. These are the same as the eight ways beings are “established in what can be expressed”; see n. 35. On sakkāya see 22:105, and on the devas being included in sakkāya, 22:78 (III 85,26-28).on the
In pāda d, Be, Se, and Ee2 read devakaññāhi patthitā, In pada d, Be, Se, and Ee2 read devakanndhi patthitā, “desired by celestial maidens,” and Ee1 devakaññābhipattikā. Since p/s confusion is not uncommon in the texts (see EV I, n. to 49), we can infer that the original reading is the one found in SS, devakaññābhisattikā, the reading also preferred by CPD. Abhisattika is an adjective formed from the past participle of abhisajjati, “to be attached to.” I am thankful to VĀT for pointing this out to me.
545 He is not identified in Spk, and DPPN records nothing about him except what is found in the present sutta.
546 I follow the reading of this verse and the next proposed by Alsdorf (in Die Āryā-Strophen des Pali-Kanons, pp. 319-20), but with modifications suggested by VĀT (namely, changing Alsdorf’s long vocative Nāgadattā to the nominative, and the four long vocatives in the second verse to accusatives, as in the printed eds.): Kāle pavissa gāmaṃ/Nāgadatto divā ca āgantvā
ativelacārī saṃsaṭṭho/gahaṭṭhehi samānasukhadukkho.
Bhāyāmi Nāgadattaṃ/suppagabbhaṃ kulesu vinibaddhaṃ,
mā h’ eva maccurañño/ balavato antakassa vasam esi!
“Entering the village too early and returning too late in the day” and “associating closely with lay people and monks in a worldly way” are two of five factors said to lead to a bhikkhu’s falling away from the higher training (AN III 116, 27-117, 7). The meaning of the compound samānasukhadukkha is explained at 22:3 (III 11,5-6), though the compound itself does not occur there. The same compound is used at DN III 187,11-15 in a positive sense as a characteristic of a true friend.
547 Spk: He had received a meditation subject from the Buddha and entered a woodland thicket. The next day a family gave him alms and offered to provide him with regular support. Thereby he attained arahantship and continued to dwell in the same place enjoying the bliss of fruition attainment. The devatā (a female) was not aware of the elder’s attainment and thought he had formed an intimate relationship with the mistress of the family. Therefore she came in order to reproach him. Neither Spk nor Spk-pṭ comments on the rare expression kulagharaṇī.
548 The antelope (vātamiga, lit. “wind-deer”) is the subject of Ja No. 14. Spk: As an antelope in the woods becomes frightened by the sound of the wind rustling the leaves, so is it with one frightened by sounds (i.e., by rumours). The practice (vata) of one who is fickle-minded (lahucitta, lit. “light-minded”) does not succeed; but this elder, being an arahant, was one with a successful practice.
549 An expanded version of this sutta is found at Dhp-a III 460-62; see BL 3:182-83.Spk: The clamour (nigghosasadda) of instruments (turiya; Spk-pṭ: of drums, conch shells, cymbals, lutes, etc.); of gongs (tāḷita; Spk-pṭ: of things that are struck in rhythm); and of music (vādita; Spk-pṭ: of lutes, flutes, horns, etc.). See too n. 343.
550 Spk: “Many are those who yearn for your state—a forest-dwelling elder clad in rag-robes, subsisting on almsfood, going on uninterrupted alms round, with few wishes, content, etc.” Spk glosses saggagāminaṃ as “those going to heaven and those (already) gone there.”
551 Appossukko tuṇhībhūto saṅkasāyati. The expression occurs also at 21:4 (II 277,12) and 35:240 (IV 178,1-2); see above n. 54. Spk: He attained arahantship and reflected, “I have attained the goal for the sake of which I did the recitation, so why continue with it?” Then he passed the time in the bliss of fruition attainment.
552 The five-pāda verse is unusual. The sense requires that in pāda b we read na samāgamimha; though the printed eds. do not include na, the suggested reading is found in Burmese mss referred to in the notes of Ee1 & 2. Spk explains virāgena, dispassion, as the noble path. In pāda d, aññāyanikkhepanaṃ is a syntactical compound; see n. 68. Spk takes aññāya as absolutive (= jānitvā), but it could also be instrumental.
553 In pāda a, I read the verb as khajjasi with Be, Se, and Ee2, as against Ee1 majjasi, “intoxicated with.” Careless attention (ayoniso manasikāra) is traditionally explained as attending to things as permanent, pleasurable, self, and beautiful; careful attention (yoniso manasikāra), as
attending to their true characteristics—impermanence, suffering, nonself, and foulness.
554 An identical story, including the verses, is at Ja No. 392 (III 307-10), with the Bodhisatta in the role of the bhikkhu.Spk: When she saw the bhikkhu sniff the lotus, the devatā thought: “Having received a meditation subject from the Buddha and entered the forest to meditate, this bhikkhu is instead meditating on the scent of flowers. If his craving for scent increases it will destroy his welfare. Let me draw near and reproach him.”
555 Spk: Vaṇṇena (in pāda c): kāraṇena. See PED, s.v. vaṇṇa (11), and v. 806a below.
556 All four eds. read, in pāda c, ākiṇṇakammanto, which Spk glosses aparisuddhakammanto, “of impure deed.” But SS read akhīṇa-, ākhīṇa-, and akkhīṇa-, which is acknowledged by Spk as a v.l. and glossed kakkhaḷakammanto, “of rough deed.” Spk (Be) reads akhīṇakammanto, Spk (Se) akkhīṇakammanto , which represents more correctly initial ā + kh. That this reading is to be preferred to ākiṇṇa- is confirmed by v. 798a, where ākhīṇaluddo would certainly make much better sense than the given reading ākiṇṇaluddho. See Norman, “Two Pāli Etymologies,” Collected Papers, 2:78-79.
557 In pāda b we should read bhatakāmhase, as in Be, Se, and Ee2. Spk: The devatā, it is said, thought: “This bhikkhu might become negligent, thinking he has a deity looking after his welfare. I won’t accept his proposal.”10. Yakkhasaṃyutta
558 Spk: This was the yakkha who dwelt on Inda’s Peak. Sometimes a peak is named after a yakkha, sometimes a yakkha after a peak.
559 Spk glosses sajjati in pāda d with laggati tiṭṭhati, “sticks, persists,” apparently taking sajjati as equivalent to Skt sajyate (see MW, s.v. sañj (2)). But the word may be a passive representing Skt sṛjyati for which MW (s.v. sṛj) lists as meanings “to create, procreate, beget, produce.” I translate on the assumption that this is the original derivation. See too PED, s.v. sajati (1).Spk says that this yakkha was a personalist (puggalavādī) who held the view that a being is produced in the womb at a single stroke (ekappahāren’ eva satto mātukucchismiṃ nibbattati). The Buddha’s answer is intended to refute the yakkha’s belief by showing that a being develops gradually (anupubbena pana vaḍḍhati).
560 The Pāli terms refer to the different stages in the formation of the embryo. Spk: The kalala is the size of a drop of oil placed on the tip of a thread made from three strands of wool. After a week from the kalala comes the abbuda, which is the colour of meat-washing water. After another week, from the abbuda the pesī is produced, which is similar to molten tin [Spk-pṭ: in shape, but in colour it is pink]. After still another week, from the pesī the ghana arises, which has the shape of a chicken egg. In the fifth week, from the ghana emerge the limbs: five pimples appear, the rudiments of the arms, legs, and head. But the head-hairs, body-hairs, and nails are not produced until the forty-second week.
561 Spk: This yakkha, it is said, belonged to Māra’s faction (mārapakkhika-yakkha). His verse parallels Māra’s reproach to the Buddha at v. 474, and the Buddha’s reply echoes v. 475. Spk-pṭ explains the purport to be that the wise man’s compassion and sympathy are not tainted by worldly affection.
562 Spk glosses vaṇṇena with kāraṇena (as in v. 796c; see n. 555), and Spk-pṭ glosses yena kena ci with gahaṭṭhena vā pabbajitena vā, “with a householder or one gone forth,” thus separating it from vaṇṇena and treating it as an expression of personal reference. The purport of the Buddha’s verses is that a wise man should not take to instructing others if he is at risk of becoming attached, but he may do so out of compassion when his mind is purified and his sympathy is not tainted by worldly affection.
563 This sutta is also at Sn II, 5 (pp. 47-49) and commented on at Pj II 301-5. The name of this yakkha means “Needlehair”; he was called thus because his body was covered with needle-like hairs. According to Spk, he had been a bhikkhu under the Buddha Kassapa but was unable to attain any distinction. During the time of the Buddha Gotama he was reborn as a yakkha in the rubbish dump at the entrance to Gayā village. The Buddha saw that he had the potential for attaining the path of stream-entry and went to his haunt in order to teach him. His haunt, the Ṭaṅkita Bed, was made of a stone slab mounted on four other stones.
564 Spk: He spoke thus thinking, “One who gets frightened and flees when he sees me is a sham ascetic (samaṇaka); one who does not get frightened and flee is an ascetic (samaṇa). This one, having seen me, will get frightened and flee.”
565 Spk: The yakkha assumed a frightful manifestation, opened his mouth wide, and raised his needle-like hairs all over his body. His touch is “evil” (pāpaka) and should be avoided like excrement, fire, or a poisonous snake. When the Buddha said this, Sūciloma became angry and spoke as follows.
566 In all eds. of SN, and most eds. of Sn, as well as their respective commentaries, vv. 808d, 809d read: Kumārakā dhaṅkam iv’ ossajanti. A v.l. vaṅkam (in place of dhaṅkam) is found in several mss of Sn (vv. 270-71) and has been incorporated into Sn (Ee1). Dhaṅkam (< Skt dvāṅkṣam) was certainly the reading known to the commentators, for both Spk and Pj II 303,22 foll. gloss the word with kākaṃ, crow, which they would not have done if vaṅkam was the reading. Spk glosses ossajanti with khipanti, and explains the simile: “Little boys bind a crow by its feet with a long cord, tie one end of the cord around their fingers, and release the crow. After the crow has gone some distance, it falls down again at their feet.”Spk paraphrases the question thus: “Whence do evil thoughts rise up and toss the mind?” (pāpavitakkā kuto samuṭṭhāya cittaṃ ossajanti). This seems to separate mano and vitakkā and to treat mano as accusative. I prefer to retain manovitakkā as a compound (as is clearly the case at v. 34b) and to see the object of ossajanti as merely implicit, namely, oneself, the very source from which the thoughts arise, as v. 810a asserts with the expression attasambhūtā.
Norman, who also accepts dhaṅkam, discusses the problem at GD, p. 200, n. to 270-71. For an alternative rendering based on the reading vaṅkam, see Ñāṇananda, SN-Anth 2:13, 89-90. The Skt version cited at Ybhūś 11.1 reads kumārakā dhātrīm ivāśrayante, “as little boys depend on a wet-nurse” (Enomoto, CSCS, p. 59).
567 Itonidānā. Spk: “This individual existence (attabhāva) is their source; they have sprung up from this individual existence. As boys at play toss up a crow, so do evil thoughts rise up from this individual existence and toss the mind [Spk-pṭ: by not giving an opening for wholesome states of mind to occur].”Spk-pṭ: In the application of the simile, the evil thoughts are like the boys at play; this world of our individual existence is like the world in which the boys have arisen; the mind is like the crow; and the fetter (saṃyojana) which follows one to a distance is like the long thread tied around the crow’s feet.
568 Like the trunk-born shoots of the banyan tree (nigrodhasseva khandhajā). The banyan tree, and other related species of fig trees, “develop from their branches aerial roots that may reach the ground and thicken into ‘pillar-roots’ or subsidiary trunks. The continually expanding system of new trunks, all connected through the branches, may support a crown up to 2,000 feet in circumference” (Emeneau, “The Strangling Figs in Sanskrit Literature,” p. 346). Emeneau quotes Milton’s Paradise Lost, IX, 1100-11, “the locus classicus on these trees in English literature”:The Figtree … spreds her Armes
Braunching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended Twigs take root, and Daughters grow
About the Mother Tree, a Pillard shade
High overarch’t, and echoing Walks between….
Like a māluvā creeper stretched across the woods (māluvā va vitatā vane). Spk: “When the māluvā creeper grows by supporting itself against a particular tree, it weaves itself around that tree again and again and spreads over it from bottom to top and from top to bottom, so that it stands suspended and stretched out. In a similar way the manifold defilements of sensual desire cling to the obje
cts of sensual desire, or the manifold beings cling to the objects of sensual desire on account of those defilements of sensual desire.” The point, rather, seems to be that sensual desire spreads from object to object just as the creeper stretches itself out in the woods by spreading from tree to tree. For more on the māluvā creeper, see MN I 306-7, AN I 202,32-34 and 204,23-205,4, and Dhp 162, 334.
569 Spk paraphrases: “Those who understand their source of this individual existence dispel it, that is, with the truth of the path, they dispel the truth of the origin (= craving), which is the source of the truth of suffering that consists in this individual existence. By driving away the truth of the origin, they cross this hard-to-cross flood of defilements, uncrossed before in this beginningless saṃsāra even in a dream, for no renewed existence, for the sake of the truth of cessation (= Nibbāna), which is called ‘no renewed existence’ (apunabbhavāya). Thus with this verse the Master reveals the Four Noble Truths, bringing the discourse to its climax in arahantship. At its conclusion, Sūciloma was established in the fruit of stream-entry. And since stream-enterers do not live on in monstrous bodies, simultaneously with his attainment his needle-hairs all fell out and he obtained the appearance of an earth-deity (bhummadevatāparihāra ).”