Saṃyutta Nikāya
3. Khandha Vagga
22. Khandha Saṃyutta
5. Atta-Dīpa Vagga
Sutta 43
Atta-Dīpa Suttaṃ
Self Illuminated
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
"Do ye abide, brethren,
islands unto yourselves,
refuges unto yourselves:
taking refuge in none other;
islanded by the Norm,
taking refuge in the Norm,
seeking refuge in none other."
— Kindred Sayings on Elements, An island to self, F.L. Woodward
§
[1-2][pts][bodh][wlsh] I Hear Tell:
Once Upon a Time, the Lucky Man, Sāvatthi Town,
Anāthapiṇḍika Park, came-a ReVisiting.
There he said:
[3][pts][bodh] Self-illuminated,[1] Beggars,
live self-protected,
by not else protected;
Dhamma-illuminated,
Dhamma-protected,
by not else protected.
[4][pts][bodh] Self-illuminated, Beggars,
living self-protected,
by not else protected;
Dhamma-illuminated,
Dhamma-protected,
by not else protected,
encompass the etiology this way:[2]
'What is the birth,
what is the beginning
of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair?'
[5][pts][bodh] What is the birth,
what is the beginning
of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair?
[6][pts][bodh] Here, Beggars, the common man,
not seeing Aristocrats,
unwise to the Aristocratic Dhamma,
untrained in the Aristocratic Dhamma,
not seeing Real men,
unwise to the Dhamma of Real men,
untrained in the Dhamma of Real men,[3]
holds the view:
form[4] is self,
or self has form,
or form is in self,
or self is in form.
For such a one
that form changes
and becomes something else.
For such a one,
that form changing
and becoming something else
is the appearance of the birth
of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair.
[7][pts][bodh] Or he holds the view:
sensation is self,
or self has sensation,
or sensation is in self,
or self is in sensation.
For such a one
that sensation changes
and becomes something else.
For such a one,
that sensation changing
and becoming something else
is the appearance of the birth
of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair.
[8][pts][bodh] Or he holds the view:
perception is self,
or self has perception,
or perception is in self,
or self is in perception.
For such a one
that perception changes
and becomes something else.
For such a one,
that perception changing
and becoming something else
is the appearance of the birth
of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair.
[9][pts][bodh] Or he holds the view:
the own-made is self,
or self has the own-made,
or the own-made is in self,
or self is in the own-made.
For such a one
the own-made changes
and becomes something else.
For such a one,
the own-made changing
and becoming something else
is the appearance of the birth
of Grief and Lamentation,
Pain and Misery,
and Despair.
[10][pts][bodh] Or he holds the view:
consciousness is self,
or self has consciousness,
or consciousness is in self,
or self is in consciousness.
For such a one
that consciousness changes
and becomes something else.
For such a one,
that consciousness changing
and becoming something else
is the appearance of the birth
of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair.
[11][pts][bodh] But viewing form, Beggars,
as changing,
corrupt,
dying out,
ending,
thinking:
'Before, as well as in the here and now,
form was a changeable,
painful phenomena
subject to dying out,'
and thus with penetrating knowledge
seeing it as it really is,
he lets go of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair,
and letting go
is not dissatisfied,
and not dissatisfied,
lives pleasantly,
and living pleasantly, they say:
'This Beggar is cool.'
[12][pts][bodh] Or viewing sensation, Beggars,
as changing,
corrupt,
dying out,
ending,
thinking:
'Before, as well as in the here and now,
sensation was a changeable,
painful phenomena
subject to dying out,'
sand thus with penetrating knowledge
seeing it as it really is,
he lets go of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair,
and letting go is not dissatisfied,
and not dissatisfied,
lives pleasantly,
and living pleasantly, they say:
'This Beggar is cool.'
[13][pts][bodh] Or viewing perception, Beggars,
as changing,
corrupt,
dying out,
ending,
thinking:
'Before, as well as in the here and now,
perception was a changeable,
painful phenomena
subject to dying out,'
and thus with penetrating knowledge
seeing it as it really is,
he lets go of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair,
and letting go is not dissatisfied,
and not dissatisfied,
lives pleasantly,
and living pleasantly, they say:
'This Beggar is cool.'
[14][pts][bodh] Or viewing the own-made, Beggars,
as changing,
corrupt,
dying out,
ending,
thinking
'Before, as well as in the here and now,
the own-made was a changeable,
painful phenomena
subject to dying out,'
and thus with penetrating knowledge
seeing it as it really is,
he lets go of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair,
and letting go is not dissatisfied,
and not dissatisfied,
lives pleasantly,
and living pleasantly, they say:
'This Beggar is cool.'
[15][pts][bodh] Or viewing consciousness, Beggars,
as changing,
corrupt,
dying out,
ending,
thinking:
'Before, as well as in the here and now,
consciousness was a changeable,
painful phenomena
subject to dying out,'
and thus with penetrating knowledge
seeing it as it really is,
he lets go of grief and lamentation,
pain and misery,
and despair,
and letting go is not dissatisfied,
and not dissatisfied,
lives pleasantly,
and living pleasantly, they say:
'This Beggar is cool.'"
[1] Is it a light or is it an island? The word "dipa" means both and more.
atta-dipa can mean "self-islanded," or "self-lit" so: "Live as a light unto yourself" is, at the least, heard.
atta-sarana self surrounded, in the sense of "protected" and, also, self-recollected
anañña-sarana [añña > an = not; ya = whatsoever; Latin alius, Gothic aljis, Old Anglo Saxon elles > English else] Not other-surrounded or protected, but also "by nothing else protected. So it can be either way.
[2] Yoni yeva upaparikkhitabbo. A phrase which seems to have undergone some 'reconstruction.' It means "thoroughly examine to the womb." However its use broadened out into 'studious examination' period, and even out into just 'giving thorough attention'. The reader should note the difference which is made to the mental picture when translating "yoni" [womb] as "origin" versus leaving it as "womb." [indicated by square brackets below]:
Pāḷi:
Atta-dīpānaṃ bhikkhave, viharataṃ atta-saraṇānaṃ||
anañña-saraṇānaṃ Dhamma-dīpānaṃ Dhamma-saraṇānaṃ anañña-saraṇānaṃ, [yoni] yeva upaparikkhitabbo. Kiñjātikā soka-parideva-dukkha-domanass'upāyāsā kiṃ pahotikā" ti.
Woodward:
By them who are islands unto themselves, brethren, who are a refuge unto themselves, who take refuge in none other who are islanded by the Norm, take refuge in the Norm, seek refuge in none other — by them the very [source] of things is to be searched for: thus — "What is the source of sorrow and grief, of woe, lamentation and despair? What is their origin?"
[3] Please note the way this is translated compared to the way it is usually presented here:
Here, beggars, the common man, not seeing Aristocrats, unwise to the Aristocratic Dhamma, untrained in the Aristocratic Dhamma, not seeing real men, unwise to the Dhamma of real men, untrained in the Dhamma of real men
Vs:
In the case of this case, beggars, we have the case of the untamed, untrained, uneducated common man. Untamed to the discipline of the aristocrats, untrained in the manners of the aristocrats, uneducated in the teachings of the aristocrats; untamed to the ways of the sappurisa, untrained in the craft of the sappurisa, uneducated to the lore of the sappurisa.
The first adheres closely to the Pāḷi, the second shows the variety of meanings of Dhamma. We could use a good translation for the term "Sappurisa." Some others are "pure men" "superman" "worthy ones."
"Purisa" is a term meaning "male" [pass up sun one], and "sapp-" means "clarified" as in butter, or gold. Interesting that our culture does not have a good word for a good man.
[4] Rūpa is translated by Woodward as "Body", which is a fairly standard interpretation. Here "form" is used because the meaning is broader and because there is another closer Pāḷi word for body in "kaya" The broader meaning was likely intended because the discussion is of that which individuals consider their own or themselves. Some individuals conception of what form constitutes the self of them extends beyond (some beings out there think the whole world is their own!), or is less than the body [while it is in you, does excrement constitute a part of your idea of yourself or not? Is it a part of the body or not?].
