The Venerable Nāgita

Translated by E. M. Hare

[1][than][bodh] Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One
with a great company of monks,
while wandering for alms among the Kosalese,
came to the brahman village of Icchānangala
belonging to them.

And there the Exalted One dwelt in the Icchānangala woodland thicket.

Now the brāhman householders of Icchānangala heard of this.

'Mark you,' they said,
the recluse, Master Gotama, the Sakya,
gone forth from the Sakyan clan,
has come to Icchānangala
and dwells in our wood near by;
and of this same Master [22] Gotama
this excellent report goes abroad:

He is the Exalted One,
arahant,
perfectly enlightened,
endowed with wisdom and righteousness,
one well-gone,
a world-knower,
the unsurpassed,
a tamer of tamable men,
a teacher,
a Buddha of devas and men,
the Exalted One!

Having realized more-knowledge himself,
he declares it to this world
with its devas
and Māras
and Brahmas,
to this earth with its recluses and brahmans,
its devas and men;
and he teaches Dhamma,
lovely in the beginning,
lovely in.the middle
and lovely in the end;
and sets forth the godly life,
utterly pure and perfect,
both in spirit and letter.

Well indeed is it to see such arahants!"

And when the night was over,
they went to the wood,
taking with them a great deal of hard and soft food,
and stood outside the entrance,^[1]
making a great din and uproar.

■

Now at that time the venerable Nāgita
was the Exalted One's personal attendant.

Then the Exalted One called to the venerable Nāgita and said:

'Who are these, Nāgita, that make this great din and uproar?

Like fisherfolk, methinks,
with a great haul of fish!'

'These men, lord, are the brahman householders of Icchānangala,
who wait outside the gateway.

They have brought much hard and soft food
for the Exalted One and for the Order.'

'I have naught to do with homage, Nāgita,
nor has homage aught to do with me.

Whosoever cannot obtain at will,
easily and without difficulty
this happiness of renunciation,
this happiness of seclusion,
this happiness of calm
and this happiness of enlightenment,
which I can obtain at will,
easily and without difficulty,
let him enjoy that dung-like happiness,
that sluggish happiness,
that happiness gotten of
gains,
favours
and flattery.'

'Lord, let the Exalted One accept (their offerings)!

Let the Well-gone accept;
now, lord,
is the time for the Blessed One to accept!

For wheresoever henceforth the Exalted One shall go,
the brahman householders of town and country
will be just as inclined (to give).

Lord, just as when the (rain-) deva [23] rains big drops,
the water flows with the incline;
even so, lord,
wheresoever the Exalted One shall henceforth go,
the brahman householders of town and country
wil1 be inclined.

And why?

Lord, it is because of the virtue and wisdom of the Edited One.'

'Nāgita, I have naught to do with homage,
nor has homage aught to dö with me.

Verily, Nāgita,
whosoever eats,
drinks,
munches
and crunches
must answer the calls of nature;
such is the issue of it.

Whosoever loves,
to him change
and a state of otherness
must come,
grief,
lamentation,
suffering,
sorrow
and despair;^[3]
such is the issue of it.

Whosoever is bent on applying himself
to the symbol of the unattractive.^[4]
in him disgust for the symbol of the attractive
is established;
such is the issue of it.

Whosoever abides
seeing impermanence in the six spheres of touch,^[5]
in him disgust for touch is established;
such is the issue of it.

Verily, Nāgita,
whosoever abides seeing the rise and fall
in the fivefold body of attachment,^[6]
in him disgust for attachment is established;
such is the issue of it.'

^[1] All this is a stock opening; see below VI, § 42, D. i, 87, etc. Here the Comy. is silent on Icchānangala.

^[2] All this recurs at A. iv, 341; the Comy. here is materially the same. Regarding Nāgita, see Dial. i, 198; Brethren, lxxxvi, and p. 350.

^[3] Cf. S. ii, 274; iii, 7; M. ii, 110.

^[4] Asubha and subha, from sobhati, to shine, therefore attractive (cf. Vism. trsl. 'as a moth falls into the flame of a lamp, and a man, greedy for honey-drops, licks the blade of a knife besmeared with honey' — it is to avoid such snares that asubha-meditation is enjoined'. The word is more generally translated 'the foul'; see DhS. trsl. 69, Vism. trsl. 205 ff.; Expos. 264 ff.

^[5] Contact with the five senses and the mind.

^[6] 'That is, all that is 'not the self,' or very man, the skandhas: the physical parts, the feelings, the perceptions, the dispositions and the consciousness; see Mrs. Rhys Davids' Buddh. Psych. 40-56.

Aṇguttara Nikāya Pañcaka Nipāta III: Pañc'aṇgika Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings The Book of the Fives III: The Fivefold

Sutta 30

Nāgita Suttaṃ

The Venerable Nāgita

Aṇguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka Nipāta
III: Pañc'aṇgika Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
III: The Fivefold