Saṃyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
40. Moggallāna Saṃyutta
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
IV. Kindred Sayings on the 'Six-fold Sphere'
Chapter 40: Kindred Sayings about Moggallāna
Sutta 1
Sa-Vitakka Suttaṃ
With Thinking
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
Once upon a time Old Man Moggallāna The Great,
Sāvatthī-town revisiting,
Jeta Grove,
Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
There then Old Man Moggallāna The Great addressed the beggars:
"Beggars, my friends!"
"Friend!" the beggars responded to Moggallāna.
Old Man Moggallāna The Great said to them:
"Here, friends,
as I had retreated into solitude
there arose in my heart
this train of thought:
'The First Kenning![1]
The First Kenning!"
so they say.
Now what then is the First Kenning?'
So then it recurred to me, friends:
'Here a beggar,
just isolating himself from sense pleasures,
just isolating himself from unskillful things,
with-rethinking,
with re-examination,
in the pleasant enjoyment
born of solitude
abides getting a grip
on The First Kenning.
This is what they call The First Kenning.'
Then I, friends,
just isolating himself from sense pleasures,
just isolating himself from unskillful things,
with-rethinking,
with re-examination,
in the pleasant enjoyment
born of solitude
abided getting a grip
on The First Kenning.
But then, friends,
as I abided in this abiding,[2]
there arose and came about me
attention of mind
to perceptions connected to sense-pleasures.[3]
There then, friends,
The Lucky man, through his majesty,[4]
approached me and said:
'Moggallāna!
Moggallāna!
Do not, Brahmin,
be careless with The First Kenning!
Set your heart on The First Kenning!
Make one with your heart The First Kenning.
Steady[5] your heart in The First Kenning!'
So then I, friends
after a time,
just isolating myself from sense pleasures,
just isolating myself from unskillful things,
with-rethinking,
with re-examination,
in the pleasant enjoyment
born of solitude
abided getting a grip
on The First Kenning.
He who would,
speaking highly of one,
friends,
say:
'The Master brought the student to attainment
of great higher knowledge,'
would,
speaking highly of me,
say:
'The Master brought the student to attainment
of great higher knowledge.'"
[1] Jhāna Woodward's 'trance' here, elsewhere 'musing', 'gnosis', 'absorption'. I have used 'knowing'. The jhānas, at a certain point definitely resemble or might as well be called trances, but the implication of the word distorts the reality. What these states are is wide-awake, fully conscious awareness of states of reality. The word 'jhāna' is the root of our word 'Know' and it would be best to emphasize that aspect of jhāna over the fact that from the outside the individual highly concentrated in jhāna seems to be in a trance state. Hence my regurgitation of the obscure word: 'ken'. This, over 'knowing' for two reasons: 1. the similarity in sound to 'zen' and 'chan' and 'jhāna'; and 2. to rise above the ordinary implications of 'knowing' which would otherwise work well.
Ken: OED: "The form is properly causative 'to cause to know', to make known', and was restricted to this use in Goth. and OE. At an early period, however, in all the Teutonic tongues, the verb also acquired the sense 'to know', in English this may have been taken from Norse, in which both senses were in early use." (Likely from the original idea of 'seeing' as 'understanding'. -mo)
Meanings: 7. "To recognize (at sight or by some marks or tokens); to identify.
8. To recognize, acknowledge, admit to be (genuine, valid, or what is claimed)
9. To get to know, ascertain, find out.
11. To know (a thing): to have knowledge of or about (a thing, place, person., etc.). To be acquainted with, to understand.
11.b. To know, understand, or perceive (a fact., etc.); to be aware of, to be aware that (what, etc.)."
[2] Woodward, citing the commentary, inserts in brackets here "(and had emerged from trance)." I object. This is to impose on the jhānas a term and construction not found in their descriptions and by that to build the foundation of the bias that the jhānas are a mysterious state no longer attainable. The jhānas are as they are described. The First Kenning is adjacent to the normal state of the mind. It is subject to being harassed by lower things and that is what is happening to Moggallāna at this point. He is bouncing back and forth and it is to steady his mind in the position above worldly things that the Lucky Man appears to him.
[3] Bhk. Bodhi adds "accompanied by thought and examination", which is not in PTS, BJT or CSCD Pāḷi.
[4] Iddhi. Magic power.
[5] Samādahā. This could be saṃ + ādahati, con-flagrate, kindle, per PED, or samā dahati, even-burn per me. What it means is to bring the fire from the point of being lit to the point where it is a steady flame.
