The Preceptor

Translated by E. M. Hare

[1][bodh] Thus have I heard:

Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī,
at Jeta Grove,
in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.

Now a certain monk approached his preceptor and said:

My body, sir, is as it were drugged;^[1]
the quarters are not seen by me;
things^[2] are not clear to me;
sloth and torpor compass my heart about and stay;
joyless,^[3] I live the holy life;
and doubts about things are ever with me.'

■

So that monk
with his fellow-monk
went to the Exalted Otte and,
on arrival,
saluted and sat down at one side.

So seated, the preceptor said to the Exalted One:

'Lord, this monk speaks thus:

"My body, sir, is as it were drugged;
the quartets are not seen by me;
things are not clear to me;
sloth and torpor compass my heart about and stay;
joyless, I live the godly life;
and doubts about things are ever with me.'

(And the Exalted One said:)

'Monk, it is ever thus!

When one dwells with doors of the senses unguarded,
with no moderation in eating,
not bent on [58] vigilance,
not looking^[4] for righteous things,
nor day in day out^[5]
practise the practice
of making become the things
that are wings to enlightenment;^[6]
then is the body as though drugged,
the quarters are not seen,
things are not clear,
sloth and torpor compass the heart and stay;
joyless, one lives the godly life;
and doubts about things are ever with one.

■

Wherefore, monk, train yourself thus:

I will make the guard-doors of the senses become more,
I will be moderate in eating,
bent on vigilance,
look for righteous things
and dwell, day in day out,
practising the practice
of making become the things
that are wings to enlightenment.

Train yourself in this way, monk.'

Then that monk, admonished with this admonishment by the Exalted One,
got up and saluted the Exalted One and departed,
keeping him on his right.

And not long afterwards,
dwelling alone,
secluded,
zealous,
earnest
and resolved,
that monk entered and abode
in that unsurpassed goal of the godly life,
realizing it by personal knowledge
even, in this life;
for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the home
into the homeless life;
and he fully realized:

Rebirth is destroyed,
lived is the godly life,
done is what had to be done,
and there is no more of this state.

And that monk was numbered among the arahants.^[7]

Then that monk, with arahantship won,
went to his preceptor and said:

'Sir, no longer is my body as it were drugged;
the four quarters are visible;
things are clear;
sloth and torpor no longer compass my heart and stay;
with joy I live the godly life;
and I have no doubts about things.'

■

So that monk
with his fellow-monk
went to the Exalted Otte and,
on arrival,
saluted and sat down at one side.^[8]

So seated, the preceptor said to the Exalted One:

'Lord, this monk speaks thus:

■

'Monk, it is ever thus!

When one dwells with doors of the senses guarded,
with moderation in eating,
bent on vigilance,
looking for righteous things,
day in day out
practise the practice
of making become the things
that are wings to enlightenment;
then the body is not as though drugged,
the quarters are seen,
things are clear,
sloth and torpor do not compass the heart and stay;
joyful, one lives the godly life;
and doubts about things are never with one.

■

Wherefore, monks, train yourself thus:

Train yourseves in this way, monks.'

^[1] This recurs at S. iii, 106; cf. also v, 153; D. ii, 99 and notes at S. trsls. (At K.S, iii, 90 read D. ii, for i.) [corrected - mo] Comy. Sanñjātagarubhāvo.

^[2] Comy. Samathavipassanādhammā me na upaṭṭhanti; see DA. ii, 547. Possibly 'faculties' as Dial. ii, 107 is the meaning.

Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet ... — Isaiah iii 16, KJV

— p.p.

^[3] Comy. glosses: ukkaṇthito, with neck stretched out: with longings; cf. Isaiah iii, 16.

^[4] Avipassaka. Comy. avipassanta, agavesanta.

^[5] Pubbarattāpararattaɱ: previous to night, beyond night.

^[6] Comy. here these are reckoned as 37. (Originally with the Way, first, not last, as One, They will have amounted to the more auspicious number of 30.) See K.S. v, Introduction, p. 1.

^[7] A stock sentence.

^[8] The text repeats in full. [Ed.: Reconstructed for this edition. Hare does not note that the repetition is in the positive. The Pali repeats the admonition to train, which may have been directed at the preceptor or at other bhikkhus present.]

Aṅguttara Nikāya Pañcaka Nipāta VI: Nīvaraṇa Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings The Book of the Fives VI: The Hindrances

Sutta 56

The Preceptor

Aṅguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka Nipāta
VI: Nīvaraṇa Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fives
VI: The Hindrances