Saṃyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
9. Vana-Saṃyutta
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
I. Kindred Sayings with Verses
9. The Forest Suttas
Sutta 2
Upaṭṭhāna Suttaṃ
Ministry[1]
Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Assisted by Sūriyagoḍa Sumangala Thera
Copyright The Pali Text Society. Public Domain.
[2.1] THUS HAVE I HEARD: —
A certain brother was once staying among the Kosalese
in a certain forest tract.
And during that time,
while he took siesta,
he would fall asleep.
Then a deva who haunted that forest tract,
moved with compassion for that brother,
desiring his welfare,
and wishing to agitate him,
drew near and addressed him in the verses: —
"Arise, good almsman, wherefore seek repose?
What benefit dost thou in slumber find?
Good for the sick is sleep, and for one pierced
With wounds, for one that suffereth from shock.[2]
The faith and trust that made thee leave the world
And give up home to live the homeless life —
That faith shouldst thou develop and expand.
But come not thou under the sway of sleep."
[The Brother: —][3]
"Transient and fleeting are desires of sense
For which slow wits infatuated long.
[252] Whoso is freed and leaneth not on bonds,
The world well lost[4] — why should you plague the man?
Whose insight is well cleansed and purified
By the suppression of desire and lust,
By the transcending of all ignorance,
The world well lost — why should you plague the man?
Where saving lore hath broken nescience,
And poisons of the mind are wholly purged,
A man who knows not sorrow or despair,
The world well lost — why should you plague the man?
He that hath summoned effort, put forth strength,
And ever maketh vigorous advance,[5]
Aspiring to Nibbāna's [blessed peace],
The world well lost — why should you plague the man?"
[1] Upaṭṭhānaṃ. The usual reference to the title does not occur in the Sutta. 'Ministry' probably refers to the fairy's well-meaning officiousness. The legend is that the bhikkhu who slept was an arahant, but that he had very far to go to procure himself any food and returned tired out.
[2] Ruppato. On this term cf. B.'s analysis given in my Buddhist Psychology, 1914, p. 43: 'disturbed, struck, hurt, broken,' namely by physical causes.
[3] B. confesses himself uncertain as to whether these lines belong to the brother, or the deva. 'It is not apparent in the commentary' (ayan pan'ettha anuttāna-pādavaṇṇanā). But if to the deva, the refrain implies 'why should he not plague himself, for he will [have to] do so?' namely, if he yield to somnolent habits.
[4] Free rendering of pabbajita — the religieux, recluse, who has 'gone forth' from 'the world.'
[5] See above, VII, 1, § 7.
