“There are such people, venerable sir.”
“What, headman, is the cause and reason why in relation to some people in Uruvelakappa sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would arise in you if they were to be executed, imprisoned, fined, or censured, while in regard to others no such sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would arise in you?”
“Those people in Uruvelakappa, venerable sir, in relation to whom sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would arise in me if they were to be executed, imprisoned, fined, or censured—these are the ones for whom I have desire and attachment. But those people in Uruvelakappa in relation to whom no sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would arise in me—these are the ones for whom I have no desire and attachment.”
“Headman, by means of this principle that is seen, understood, immediately attained, fathomed, apply the method to the past and to the future thus:352 ‘Whatever suffering arose in the past, all that arose rooted in desire, with desire as its source; for desire is the root of suffering. Whatever suffering will arise in the future, all that will arise rooted in desire, with desire as its source; for desire is the root of suffering.’”
“It is wonderful, venerable sir! It is amazing, venerable sir! How well that has been stated by the Blessed One: ‘Whatever suffering arises, [329] all that is rooted in desire, has desire as its source; for desire is the root of suffering.’353 Venerable sir, I have a boy named Ciravāsı̄, who stays at an outside residence. I rise early and send a man, saying, ‘Go, man, and find out how Ciravāsı̄ is.’ Until that man returns, venerable sir, I am upset, thinking, ‘I hope Ciravāsı̄ has not met with any affliction!’”
“What do you think, headman? If Ciravāsı̄ were to be executed, imprisoned, fined, or censured, would sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair arise in you?”
“Venerable sir, if Ciravāsı̄ were to be executed, imprisoned, fined, or censured, even my life would be upset, so how could sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair not arise in me?”
“In this way too, headman, it can be understood: ‘Whatever suffering arises, all that arises rooted in desire, with desire as its source; for desire is the root of suffering.’
“What do you think, headman? Before you saw Ciravāsı̄’s mother or heard about her, did you have any desire, attachment, or affection for her?”
“No, venerable sir.”
“Then was it, headman, because of seeing her or hearing about her that this desire, attachment, and affection arose in you?”
“Yes, venerable sir.”
“What do you think, headman? If Ciravāsı̄’s mother were to be executed, imprisoned, fined, or censured, would sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair arise in you?” [330]
“Venerable sir, if Ciravāsı̄’s mother were to be executed, imprisoned, fined, or censured, even my life would be upset, so how could sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair not arise in me?”
“In this way too, headman, it can be understood: ‘Whatever suffering arises, all that arises rooted in desire, with desire as its source; for desire is the root of suffering.’”
12 R̄āsiya
Then Rāsiya the headman approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Venerable sir, I have heard: ‘The ascetic Gotama criticizes all austerity. He categorically blames and reviles any ascetic who leads a rough life.’ Do those who speak thus, venerable sir, state what has been said by the Blessed One and not misrepresent him with what is contrary to fact? Do they explain in accordance with the Dhamma so that no reasonable consequence of their assertion would be open to criticism?”
“Those who speak thus, headman, do not state what has been said by me but misrepresent me with untruth and falsehood.
I
“There are, headman, these two extremes which should not be cultivated by one who has gone forth into homelessness: the pursuit of sensual happiness in sensual pleasures, which is low, vulgar, the way of worldlings, ignoble, unbeneficial; and the pursuit of self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, unbeneficial. Without veering towards either of these extremes, the Tathāgata has awakened to the middle way, [331] which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. And what is that middle way awakened to by the Tathāgata, which gives rise to vision … leads to Nibbāna? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view ... right concentration. This is that middle way awakened to by the Tathāgata, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibb̄na.354
II
“There are, headman, these three persons who enjoy sensual pleasures existing in the world. What three?355
(i)
“Here, headman, someone who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence. Having done so, he does not make himself happy and pleased, nor does he share it and do meritorious deeds.
(ii)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence. Having done so, he makes himself happy and pleased, but he does not share it and do meritorious deeds.
(iii)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence. Having done so, he makes himself happy and pleased, and he shares it and does meritorious deeds.
(iv)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth both lawfully and unlawfully, both by violence and without violence. Having done so, [332] he does not make himself happy and pleased, nor does he share it and do meritorious deeds.
(v)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth both lawfully and unlawfully, both by violence and without violence. Having done so, he makes himself happy and pleased, but he does not share it and do meritorious deeds.
(vi)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth both lawfully and unlawfully, both by violence and without violence. Having done so, he makes himself happy and pleased, and he shares it and does meritorious deeds.
(vii)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth lawfully, without violence. Having done so, he does not make himself happy and pleased, nor does he share it and do meritorious deeds.
(viii)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth lawfully, without violence. Having done so, he makes himself happy and pleased, but he does not share it and do meritorious deeds.
(ix)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth lawfully, without violence. Having done so, he makes himself happy and pleased, and he shares it and does meritorious deeds. But he uses his wealth while being tied to it, infatuated with it, blindly absorbed in it, not seeing the danger in it, not understanding the escape.
(x)
“Then, headman, someone here who enjoys sensual pleasures seeks wealth lawfully, without violence. Having done so, [333] he makes himself happy and pleased, and he shares it and does meritorious deeds. And he uses his wealth without being tied to it, uninfatuated with it, not blindly absorbed in it, seeing the danger in it, understanding the escape.
III
(i)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence, and who does not make himself happy and pleased nor share it and do meritorious deeds, may be criticized on three grounds. On what three grounds may he be criticized? ‘He seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be criticized. ‘He does not make himself happy and pleased’—this is the second ground on which he may be criticized. ‘He does not share it and do meritorious deeds’—this is the third ground on which he may be criticized. This one enjoying sensual
pleasures may be criticized on these three grounds.
(ii)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence, and who makes himself happy and pleased but does not share it and do meritorious deeds, may be criticized on two grounds and praised on one ground. On what two grounds may he be criticized? ‘He seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be criticized. ‘He does not share it and do meritorious deeds’—this is the second ground on which he may be criticized. And on what one ground may he be praised? ‘He makes himself happy and pleased’—this is the one ground on which he may be praised. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be criticized on these two grounds and praised on this one ground.
(iii)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence, and [334] makes himself happy and pleased, and shares it and does meritorious deeds, may be criticized on one ground and praised on two grounds. On what one ground may he be criticized? ‘He seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence’—this is the one ground on which he may be criticized. And on what two grounds may he be praised? ‘He makes himself happy and pleased’—this is the first ground on which he may be praised. ‘He shares it and does meritorious deeds’—this is the second ground on which he may be praised. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be criticized on this one ground and praised on these two grounds.
(iv)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth both lawfully and unlawfully, both by violence and without violence, and who does not make himself happy and pleased nor share it and do meritorious deeds, may be praised on one ground and criticized on three grounds. On what one ground may he be praised? ‘He seeks wealth lawfully, without violence’—this is the one ground on which he may be praised. On what three grounds may he be criticized? ‘He seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be criticized. ‘He does not make himself happy and pleased’—this is the second ground on which he may be criticized. ‘He does not share it and do meritorious deeds’—this is the third ground on which he may be criticized. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be praised on this one ground and criticized on these three grounds.
(v)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth both lawfully and unlawfully, both by violence and without violence, and who makes himself happy and pleased but does not share it and do meritorious deeds, may be praised on two grounds and criticized on two grounds. On what two grounds may he be praised? ‘He seeks wealth lawfully, without violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be praised. ‘He makes himself happy and pleased’—this is the second ground on which he may be praised. [335] On what two grounds may he be criticized? ‘He seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be criticized. ‘He does not share it and do meritorious deeds’—this is the second ground on which he may be criticized. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be praised on these two grounds and criticized on these two grounds.
(vi)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth both lawfully and unlawfully, both by violence and without violence, and who makes himself happy and pleased and shares it and does meritorious deeds, may be praised on three grounds and criticized on one ground. On what three grounds may he be praised? ‘He seeks wealth lawfully, without violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be praised. ‘He makes himself happy and pleased’—this is the second ground on which he may be praised. ‘He shares it and does meritorious deeds’—this is the third ground on which he may be praised. On what one ground may he be criticized? ‘He seeks wealth unlawfully, by violence’—this is the one ground on which he may be criticized. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be praised on these three grounds and criticized on this one ground.
(vii)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth lawfully, without violence, and who does not make himself happy and pleased nor share it and do meritorious deeds, may be praised on one ground and criticized on two grounds. On what one ground may he be praised? ‘He seeks wealth lawfully, without violence’—this is the one ground on which he may be praised. On what two grounds may he be criticized? ‘He does not make himself happy and pleased’—this is the first ground on which he may be criticized. ‘He does not share it and do meritorious deeds’—this is the second ground on which he may be criticized. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be praised on this one ground and criticized on these two grounds. [336]
(viii)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth lawfully, without violence, and who makes himself happy and pleased but does not share it and do meritorious deeds, may be praised on two grounds and criticized on one ground. On what two grounds may he be praised? ‘He seeks wealth lawfully, without violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be praised. ‘He makes himself happy and pleased’—this is the second ground on which he may be praised. On what one ground may he be criticized? ‘He does not share it and do meritorious deeds’—this is the one ground on which he may be criticized. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be praised on these two grounds and criticized on this one ground.
(ix)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth lawfully, without violence, and makes himself happy and pleased, and shares it and does meritorious deeds, but who uses that wealth while being tied to it, infatuated with it, blindly absorbed in it, not seeing the danger in it, not understanding the escape—he may be praised on three grounds and criticized on one ground. On what three grounds may he be praised? ‘He seeks wealth lawfully, without violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be praised. ‘He makes himself happy and pleased’—this is the second ground on which he may be praised. ‘He shares it and does meritorious deeds’—this is the third ground on which he may be praised. On what one ground may he be criticized? ‘He uses that wealth while being tied to it, infatuated with it, blindly absorbed in it, not seeing the danger in it, not understanding the escape’—this is the one ground on which he may be criticized. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be praised on these three grounds and criticized on this one ground.
(x)
“Therein, headman, the one enjoying sensual pleasures who seeks wealth lawfully, without violence, and makes himself happy and pleased, and shares it and does meritorious deeds, [337] and who uses that wealth without being tied to it, uninfatuated with it, not blindly absorbed in it, seeing the danger in it, understanding the escape—he may be praised on four grounds. On what four grounds may he be praised? ‘He seeks wealth lawfully, without violence’—this is the first ground on which he may be praised. ‘He makes himself happy and pleased’—this is the second ground on which he may be praised. ‘He shares it and does meritorious deeds’—this is the third ground on which he may be praised. ‘He uses that wealth without being tied to it, uninfatuated with it, not blindly absorbed in it, seeing the danger in it, understanding the escape’—this is the fourth ground on which he may be praised. This one enjoying sensual pleasures may be praised on these four grounds.
IV
“There are, headman, these three kinds of ascetics of rough life existing in the world. What three?
(i)
“Here, headman, some ascetic of rough life has gone forth out of faith from the household life into homelessness with the thought: ‘Perhaps I may achieve a wholesome state; perhaps I may realize a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.’356 He afflicts and torments himself, yet he does not achieve a wholesome state or realize a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.
(ii)
“Then, headman, some ascetic of rough life has gone forth out of faith…. He afflicts and torments himself, and a
chieves a wholesome state, yet he does not realize a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. [338]
(iii)
“Then, headman, some ascetic of rough life has gone forth out of faith…. He afflicts and torments himself, achieves a wholesome state, and realizes a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.
V
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha Page 148