Saṃyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
7. Brāhmana Saṃyutta
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
I. Kindred Sayings with Verses
7. The Brāhmana Suttas
Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Assisted by Sūriyagoḍa Sumangala Thera
Public Domain
II: The Lay Adherents
Sutta 12
Udaya Suttaṃ
Udaya
[12.1][olen][than] THUS HAVE I HEARD:
While at Sāvatthi, the Exalted One,
dressing himself early,
and taking bowl and robe,
came one day to the dwelling of Udaya[1] the brahmin.
Then Udaya the brahmin
filled the Exalted One's bowl with rice.
Now the Exalted One repeated his visit
the second day,
and yet again the third,
and each time Udaya the brahmin
filled his bowl with rice.
After he had done so the third time,
Udaya the brahmin said:
"A pertinacious man[2] is the friar Gotama,
that he comes again and again!"
[The Exalted One: —]
"Again, again is seed in furrow sown,
Again, again the cloud-king sends down rain,
Again, again the ploughmen plough the fields,
Again, again comes corn[3] into the realm,
Again, again do beggars[4] go their round,
Again, again do generous donors give,
[220] Again, again when many gifts are given,
Again, again the donors find their heaven.[5]
Again, again the dairy-folk draw milk,
Again, again the calf its mother seeks,[6]
Again, again we tire and toil anew,
Again, again the slow wits seek rebirth,[7]
Again, again comes birth and dying comes,
Again, again men bear us to the grave.
When once the man of broad insight that Path
Which brings no new becoming doth attain,
Then is he no more born again, again."
When he had thus spoken, Udaya the brahmin said:
"Most excellent, Master Gotama,
most excellent!
As if one raised up
that which had been overthrown,
or revealed
that which had been hidden,
or declared the way
to one who was bewildered,
or carried an oil-lamp into the dark,
so that they that had eyes could see,
even so is the Norm in many ways
made manifest by Master Gotama.
Lo! I go for refuge
to Gotama the Exalted One,
to the Norm,
and to the Order.
May Master Gotama suffer me as a lay-adherent,
who from this day forth
as long as life endures
has taken in him refuge!"
[1] Not met with elsewhere. The brahmin's name recurs, Sn. V. 1105 f.
[2] Pakaṭṭhako is exegetically explained as rasagiddho, 'greedy for tastes'; the word is very rare in Pali. See the Sskr. ka.sṭa. 'A desperate fellow for dinner is the friar!' Comy.
[3] Reading dhañña. See op. cit. below.
[4] 'Here he skilfully brings in himself.' Comy. Humorously, too, he hints at the self-sacrificing donor called dānapati. Cf. above, II, 3 §3
[5] So far the verses form part of Sakuḷudāyin's poem, Pss. of the Brethren, vers. 531, 532. Is there any coincidence between this name and Udaya? Cf. above, VII, 1, § 3. B. speaks of the whole list as 16 things that have to be recurrently done in life. To get 16, we must take 2 each in lines 11, 13.
[6] Possibly meaning incurs rebirth. B. is silent.
