Sutta Nipāta
1
Sutta 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,
and one who corrupts the path."
[Cunda:]
"Whom do the Awakened
call the Victor of the path
[and] 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 and 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 counterfeit
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?"
[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, Saṅghadisesa 13.
