Saɱyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
2. Devaputta Saɱyutta
2. Anāthapiṇḍika Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
I. Kindred Sayings with Verses
2. The 'Anāthapiṇḍika' Suttas
Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Assisted by Sūriyagoḍa Sumangala Thera
Public Domain
Sutta 11
Candimasa[1]
[11.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Now Candimasa, son of the gods, when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Jeta Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"They that to contemplative rapture[2] win,
With single mind,[3] insight, and thought alert,
They surely shall in safety go their ways,
As deer in marshy dell[4] mosquito-free.
[74] They that to contemplative rapture win,
Quitting corruption with all earnestness,
They to the further shore shall go their ways,
As fish once captured that hath broke the net."
Sutta 12
Veṇḍu[5]
[12.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Now Veṇḍu, son of the gods, when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Jeta Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"0 fortunate, 0 happy are the folk
Who, having waited on the Blessed One
And entered 'neath the Rule of Gotama,
Pursue their training with all earnestness!
"They that continue in deep thought to train
Themselves, 0 Veṇḍu" — said the Exalted One —
"In all the doctrines I have preached to them,
They strenuous, earnest, in due time will go
Maybe no more into the power of death."
Sutta 13
Dīghalaṭṭhi
[13.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying at Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, at the Squirrels' Feeding Ground. And Dīghalaṭṭhi,[6] son of the gods when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Bamboo Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"The Brother with his mind set wholly free
Should zealously in Jhāna meditate,
Yearning to win his heart's inmost desire,
And knowing of all things the flux and ebb,
[75]Lovely in disposition, leaning not,
By that rewarded and by that repaid."[7]
Sutta 14
Nandana
[14.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Now Nandana son of the gods, when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Jeta Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"I ask of thee, Gotama, of thy wisdom
So wondrous wide, ask of th' Exalted One's
All-piercing insight, irresistible knowledge:[8]
What kind of man is it that they call virtuous?
What kind of man, say they, possesses wisdom?
What kind of man liveth beyond all sorrow?[9]
What kind of man is it that devas worship?"
[The Exalted One: —]
"He that is wise, virtuous, cultivated
In mind, intent, given to Jhāna, mindful.
All miseries driven away and banished:[10]
Such is [the saint known as] the Drug-destroyer,
Who here doth live, ultimate carcase bearing: —
This kind of man is it that they call virtuous;
This kind of man, say they, possesses wisdom;
This kind of man liveth beyond all sorrow;
This kind of man is it that devas worship."
Sutta 15
Candana
[15.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Now Candana son of the gods, when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Jeta Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
[76] "0 tell how may we pass across the flood,
Unfaltering in effort night and day?
Standing on naught, with naught on which to hang,
What doth remain save in the deep to drown?"
[The Exalted One:—]
"He that in virtuous habit never fails,
Hath insight, can to mystic rapture win,
Who stirs up effort, puts forth all his strength,[11] [12]
'Tis he can cross the flood so hard to pass.
Whoso for sense-experience is not fain,
Whoso hath got past each celestial chain,[13]
In whom craving, rebirth[14] are smitten down: —
'Tis he that never in the deep will drown."
Sutta 16
Sudatta
[16.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Now Sudatta son of the gods, when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Jeta Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"As one downsmitten by impending sword,
As one whose hair and turban are aflame,
So let the Brother, mindful and alert,
Go forth, all worldly passions left behind.
As one downsmitten by impending sword,
As one whose hair and turban are aflame,
So let the Brother, mindful and alert,
Go forth, leaving soul-fallacy behind."[15]
Sutta 17
Subrahmā
[17.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Now Subrahmā son of the gods, when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Jeta Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"Ever my heart is filled with sore dismay,
Ever my mind with anguish is o'ercast,
For things I looked for but which happened not,
And for the things that happened in their stead.[16]
If there be riddance of my sore dismay,
That tell me thou to whom I make appeal."
[The Exalted One: —]
"Save by high wisdom's modes, by ways austere,[17]
Save by restraint of powers and faculties,[18]
Save by renouncing, by forsaking all,
No safety can I see for living things."
And the deva vanished there and then
Sutta 18
Kakudha
[18.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying at Saketa,[19] in the Anjana Grove, in the Deer Preserve.
Now Kakudha son of the gods, [78] when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Anjana Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"Art thou pleased, recluse?"
"What, friend, have I received [that I should be pleased]?"
"Art thou sad, recluse?"
"What is worn out, friend?"
"Wherefore, recluse, thou art neither pleased nor sad?"
"That is so, friend."
[Kakudha: —]
"How now, 0 Brother! thou art not depressed,
And yet no pleasure doth arise in thee?
How now! art thou, seated so lonely there,
Not overwhelmed in spirit by regret?"[20]
[The Exalted One: —]
"Yea, I, 0 fairy,[21] am no wise depressed,
And yet no pleasure doth arise in me;
Nor yet, though I am seated lonely here,
Am I overwhelmed in spirit by regret."
[Kakudha: —]
"How comes it, Brother, thou art not depressed,
Yet that no pleasure doth arise in thee?
How is't that thou, seated so lonely there,
Art not o'erwhelmed in spirit by regret?"
[The Exalted One: —]
"Pleasure may come to one who's sad at heart;
Sadness may follow where the heart is pleased.
Whoso hath left the world—know this, 0 friend! —
Neither feels pleasure, nor is sad at heart."
[79][Kakudha: —]
"Long time it is, i' faith, since I beheld,
As now I see, a saint freed utterly!
This Brother who is neither pleased nor sad
Hath safely crossed where all the world sticks fast."[22]
Sutta 19
Uttara
[19.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying at Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, at the Squirrels' Feeding Ground. And Uttara, son of the gods when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Bamboo Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"Life to its doom is led. Our years are few.
For us led to decay no shelters stand.
Whoso doth contemplate this fear of death,
Let him so act that merit brings him bliss."
[The Exalted One:—]
"Life to its doom is led. Our years are few.
For us led to decay no shelters stand.
Whoso doth contemplate this fear of death,
Let him reject the bait of all the worlds,
Let him aspire after the final Peace."[23]
Sutta 20
Anāthapiṇḍika[24]
[20.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Now Anāthapiṇḍika son of the gods, when the night was far spent, shedding radiance with his effulgent beauty over the entire Jeta Grove, came into the presence of the Exalted One, and stood at one side. So standing, he spake thus to the Exalted One: —
"This is the kindly Jeta Grove, resort
Of the august fraternity of seers.
Here sojourneth the Sovereign of the Norm,
And hence ariseth rapture in my breast.
[80]Good-will and learning, mind by method trained,
The highest conduct on good morals based: —
This maketh mortals pure, not rank nor wealth.
Hence, his own good discerning, let the wise
Throughly examine how to train the mind.
Thus and therein shall he find purity.
Even as Sāriputta was supreme
In insight, morals, and self-mastery,
So may the Brother who hath won the goal
Rank even with the highest of them all."
Thus spake Anāthapiṇḍika, son of the gods. And when he had so said, he saluted the Exalted One, keeping him on his right hand as he went, and vanished there and then. Then when the night was past, the Exalted One addressed the Brethren, and told them how a certain son of the devas had visited him in Jeta's Grove, and repeated to them his verses.
Then said the venerable Ānanda to the Exalted One:
"That son of the devas, lord, will have been Anāthapiṇḍika! Anāthapiṇḍika, lord, was greatly devoted to the venerable Sāriputta."
"'T is well, 't is well, Ānanda; so far as anything can be ascertained by inference,[25] thou hast ascertained it. The son of the devas, Ānanda, was Anāthapiṇḍika."
[1] The Comy. does not mention this deva by name, hence does not help us as to the quantity of the second a, short in the title, long (?metri causā) in the summary (given in the text after each vagga). The name has not been met with elsewhere.
[2] The Jhāna's.
[3] Ekodi, i.e. concentrated on its object.
[4] Mountain or river marsh. Comy.
[5] The Comy. has Veṇhu, the Pali form of Vishnu, but no comment on him. Vishnu is mentioned as attending, with his devas, the 'Great Concourse,' Dialogues, ii, 290 (D. ii, 259). Cf. p. 36, n. 3.
[6] I.e. Long-stick. His nickname while he lived on earth, because of his height. In the heavens they are all 3 gāvutas in height. Comy. [Ed.: 5-1/4 miles!]
[8] 'When a Tathagāta sends forth his omniscience, no tree or mountain is able to obstruct it.' Comy.
[9] I.e. having first got beyond it. Comy.
[10] It should be noted how the Teacher rings the changes on the threefold sikkha (training), in morals, mind-control, and insight. See above, I i § 9, n. 1; cf. again the reply to Candana (pron. Chan-).
[11] This pada recurs below, VII, 1,7; IX, § 2; cf. Pss. of the Brethren, ver. 335.
[12] Pahitatto.
[13] Lit. chain of rupa. Here B. judges that the reference is to the 16 Rupa-heavens, from the Brahma-world upwards. Sense-experience covers all the lower universe.
[14] The Comy. reads nandī-rāga. But see above, I, 1, § 2.
[15] Verses as above, I, 3, § 1.
[16] The Commentator's legend to these distressful lines is this: Subrahmā was enjoying his deva-life in the lowest heaven, under the Parichattaka tree of that Paradise, surrounded by the deva-nymphs, who, climbing the tree, pelt him with blossoms and sing to him. The force of their karma suddenly expiring, they decease, vanishing, and are reborn in purgatory. The deva, not feeling or hearing 'what he looked for,' rouses himself, and with his dibba-cakkhu (deva's vision) discerns their fate. Bewailing the tragedy, he comes to the great Teacher.
[17] Tapasā. This is not a characteristic term of the Buddha's doctrine. We might render it 'by ardour (tapati, to burn) in high wisdom's seven modes.' B., however, takes the compound as a dvandva (nouns co-ordinate): bojjhanga-bhāvanañ ca tapo-guṇañ ca — and interprets tapo by the 13 Dhutangas, or more ascetic course optional for bhikkhus (see Pss. of the Brethren, 844-56).
[18] See above, II, 1, § 6, n. 3.
[19] See Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, 40; Pss. of the Brethren, p. 43, n. 1. This deva's legend is that he was a son of the body-servant of Moggallāna the Great. Attached as a child to the Thera's following, he died in Jhāna-trance, and was reborn in Brahmā-heaven.
[20] Aratī nābhikīraii. Cf. Pss. of the Brethren, p. 267, n. 1.
[21] Yakkha. See below, Chapter X.
[22] See above, I, 1, § 1.
[23] See above, I, 1, § 3.
[24] See above, I, 5, § 8. The prose episode, with the verses, occurs also in M. iii, 262, where it is told, that the last saint on earth seen by Anāthapiṇḍika on his deathbed was Sāriputta, who came to confirm him in 'right views.' The text, in making the usual condensation at the start, omits to state the place revisited.
[25] An interesting early instance of takka (logic), used in this sense, B. gives the later term for inference: anumāna: 'deeming according to,' or 'following on.' 'He said; "a certain deva," to bring out Ānanda's power of inferential thinking (anumāna-buddhiyā).'
