Aṇguttara-Nikāya
III. Tika Nipāta
II. Rathakāra Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
or
More-Numbered Suttas
III. The Book of the Threes
II. The Wheelwright
Sutta 13
Āsaṃsa Suttaṃ
Three Persons
Translated from the Pali by
F.L. Woodward, M.A.
Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved
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[1][bodh][upal] Thus have I heard:
On a certain occasion the Exalted One was staying near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
Then the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," replied those monks to the Exalted One.
The Exalted One said this:
"Monks, these three persons are seen to exist in the world.
What three?
He who longs not,
he who longs
and he who has done with longings.
■
And who, monks, is the person that longs not?
In this connexion, monks,
suppose a certain man is born into a low family,
the family of a scavenger
or a hunter
or a basket-weaver
or a wheelwright[1]
or a sweeper,[2]
or in the family of some wretched man
hard put to it to find a meal
or earn a living,
where food and clothes
are hard to get.
Moreover he is ill-favoured,
ugly,
dwarfish,
sickly,
purblind,
crooked,
lame,
or paralyzed,
with never a bite or sup,
nor any clothes,
vehicle,
bed,
dwelling
or lights,
no perfumes
or flower-garlands.
Such an one hears it said:
'So and so of the ruling caste
has been anointed by the rulers
with the ruler's consecration.'
But it never occurs to him:
'When I wonder
will the rulers anoint me
with the ruler's consecration?'
Such an one, monks, is called
'a person that longs not.'
■
And who, monks, is the person that longs?
Suppose, monks, there is the elder son of a rajah,
a ruler duly anointed,
and he is fit to be consecrated,[3]
but has not been,
and has reached the age of discretion.[4]
He hears it said:
'So and so of the ruling caste
has been anointed by the rulers
with the ruler's consecration.'
Then it occurs to him:
'When I wonder
will the rulers anoint me
with the ruler's consecration?'
This one, monks, is called
'a person that longs.'
■
And who, monks, is the person
that has done with longings?
[93] In this connexion, suppose there is a rajah,
of the ruling caste,
duly anointed
with the ruler's consecration.
Then he hears it said:
'So and so of the ruling caste
has been duly anointed
with the ruler's consecration
by the rulers.'
But it does not occur to him:
'When I wonder
will the rulers anoint me
with the rider's consecration?'
The longing for consecration
which he had when he was unanointed
has utterly ceased in him.
This one, monks, is called
'a person that has done with longings.'
These are the three persons
that are seen to exist in the world
§
In like manner, monks,
these three sorts of monks
are seen to exist in the world.
What three?
The one that longs not,
the one that longs,
and the one that has done with longings.
■
And who, monks, is the person that longs not?
Herein, monks, a certain one is immoral,
an evil-doer,
impure,
of suspicious behaviour,
of covert deeds.[5]
He is no recluse,
though he pretends to be:
no liver of the righteous life,
though he claims to be:
rotten within and full of lusts,
a rubbish heap of filth is he.
Then he hears it said:
'Such and such a monk,
by the destruction of the āsavas,
has himself in this very life
come to know thoroughly the heart's release
and release by insight,
that is without āsavas,
and having attained it
abides therein.'
But it never occurs to him:
'When I wonder shall I,
by the destruction of the āsavas,
myself in this very life
come to know thoroughly the heart's release
and release by insight,
that is without āsavas,
and having attained it
abide therein?'
This one, monks, is called
'a person that longs not.'
■
And who, monks, is the person that longs?
In this connexion we have a monk
who is moral
and of a lovely nature.
He hears it said:
'Such and such a monk,
by the destruction of the āsavas,
has himself in this very life
come to know thoroughly the heart's release
and release by insight,
that is without āsavas,
and having attained it
abides therein.'
Then he thinks:
'When I wonder shall I,
by the destruction of the āsavas,
myself in this very life
come to know thoroughly the heart's release
and release by insight,
that is without āsavas,
and having attained it
abide therein?'
This one, monks, is called
'a person that longs.'
■
And who, monks, is the person
that has done with longings?
Here we have the arahant,
destroyer of the āsavas.
He hears it said:
'Such and such a monk,
by the destruction of the āsavas,
has himself in this very life
come to know thoroughly the heart's release
and release by insight,
that is without āsavas,
and having attained it
abides therein.'
But it never occurs to him:
'When I wonder shall I,
by the destruction of the āsavas,
myself in this very life
come to know thoroughly the heart's release
and re- [94] lease by insight,
that is without āsavas,
and having attained it
abide therein?'
Why not?
Because, monks,
the longing for release
which was his when unreleased
is now allayed.
This one, monks, is called
'the person that has done with longings.'
These, monks, are the three persons who are found existing in the world."
[1] Ratha-kāra = camma-kāra (smith or wheelwright). Cf. A. ii, 85; iii, 385.
[2] Pukkusa. Cf. infra, text 162, where it is joined with caṇḍala.
[3] Ābhiseko (text has abhi-). Read ābhisek'anabhisitto (see Dict.).
[4] Acala-patto. Comy. curiously reads macala-, but the m is merelv euphonic and here inserted between two vowels, as at A. ii, 86: 'Of the age of sixteen years.'
[5] Cf. Vin. Cullav. ix, i, 2; S. i, 66; K.S. iv, 114 n.; infra, text III, 2, 7.
