Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
51. Iddhi-Pāda Saṃyutta
2. Pāsāda-Kampana Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
5. The Great Chapter
51. Kindred Sayings on the Bases of Psychic Power
2. The Shaking of the Terraced House[1]
Sutta 11
Pubbe or Hetu Suttaṃ
Formerly or Condition
Translated by F. L. Woodward
Edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids
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This formatted and proofread sutta submitted by Alex Genaud.
Once the Exalted One was staying near Sāvatthī.
[2][olds] Then the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," replied those monks to the Exalted One.
[3][olds] The Exalted One said:
"Formerly, monks, when I was unenlightened,
but just a Bodhisattva,
this occurred to me:
'What, I wonder, is the cause,
what is the motive
for cultivating the bases of psychic power?'
Then, monks, it occurred to me thus:
[4][olds] 'Herein (monks) one cultivates the basis of psychic power
of which the features are desire,[2]
together with the co-factors
of concentration and struggle,
(with this intent):
"Thus shall not my desire
be over-sluggish
nor overstrained.
It shall not be inwardly cramped
nor outwardly diffuse."
So he abides fully conscious
of what is behind and what is in front.[3]
As (he is conscious of what is) in front,
so behind:
as behind,
so in front:
as below,
so above:
as above,
so below:
as by day,
so by night:
as by night,
so by day.
Thus with wits alert,
with wits unhampered,
he cultivates his mind to brilliancy.[4]
■
[5][olds] One cultivates the basis of psychic power
of which the features are energy,
together with the co-factors
of concentration and struggle,
(with this intent):
"Thus shall not my energy
be over-sluggish
nor yet overstrained.
It shall not be inwardly cramped
nor outwardly diffuse."
So he abides fully conscious
of what is behind and what is in front.
As (he is conscious of what is) in front,
so behind:
as behind,
so in front:
as below,
so above:
as above,
so below:
[236] as by day,
so by night:
as by night,
so by day.
Thus with wits alert,
with wits unhampered,
he cultivates his mind to brilliancy.
■
[6][olds] One cultivates the basis of psychic power
of which the features are thought,
together with the co-factors
of concentration and struggle,
(with this intent):
"Thus shall not my thought
be over-sluggish
nor yet overstrained.
It shall not be inwardly cramped
nor outwardly diffuse."
So he abides fully conscious
of what is behind and what is in front.
As (he is conscious of what is) in front,
so behind:
as behind,
so in front:
as below,
so above:
as above,
so below:
as by day,
so by night:
as by night,
so by day.
Thus with wits alert,
with wits unhampered,
he cultivates his mind to brilliancy.
■
[7][olds] One cultivates the basis of psychic power
of which the features are investigation,
together with the co-factors
of concentration and struggle,
(with this intent):
"Thus shall not my investigation
be over-sluggish
nor yet overstrained.
It shall not be inwardly cramped
nor outwardly diffuse."
So he abides fully conscious
of what is behind and what is in front.
As (he is conscious of what is) in front,
so behind:
as behind,
so in front:
as below,
so above:
as above,
so below:
as by day,
so by night:
as by night,
so by day.
Thus with wits alert,
with wits unhampered,
he cultivates his mind to brilliancy.'
§
[8][olds] When a monk has thus cultivated,
thus made much of,
the four bases of psychic power,
he enjoys manifold forms of psychic power,[5] thus: -
From being one he becomes many,
from being many he becomes one.
Manifest or invisible
he goes unhindered through a wall,
through a rampart,
through a mountain,
as if it were through air.[6]
He plunges into the earth
and shoots up again
as if in water.
He walks upon the water
without parting it,
as if on solid ground.
He travels sitting cross-legged through the air,
like a bird upon the wing.
Even this moon and sun,
though they be of such mighty power and majesty,
he handles and strokes them with his hand.
Even as far as the Brahma World
he has power with his body.[7]
■
[237] [9][olds] When a monk has thus cultivated,
thus made much of,
the four bases of psychic power,
with deva-power of hearing,
purified and surpassing that of man,
he hears sounds
both of devas and of humans,
whether far or near.
■
[10][olds] When a monk has thus cultivated,
thus made much of,
the four bases of psychic power,
he knows the minds of other beings,
of other persons,
with his own mind grasping them.
Of the mind that is lustful
he knows it to be a mind that is lustful.
Of the mind that is free from lust
he knows it to be a mind that is free from lust.
Of the mind that is full of hate
he knows it to be a mind that is full of hate.
Of the mind that is free from hate
he knows it to be a mind that is free from hate.
Of the mind that is deluded
he knows it to be a mind that is deluded.
Of the mind that is free from delusion
he knows it to be a mind that is free from delusion.
Of the mind that is cramped[8]
he knows it to be a mind that is cramped.
Of the mind that is diffuse
he knows it to be a mind that is diffuse.
Of the mind that is lofty
he knows it to be a mind that is lofty,
Of the mind that is mean
he knows it to be a mind that is mean.
Of the mind which is inferior
he knows it to be a mind that is inferior.
Of the mind that is superior
he knows it to be a mind that is superior.
Of the mind that is uncontrolled
he knows it to be a mind that is uncontrolled.
Of the mind that is controlled
he knows it to be a mind that is controlled.
Of the mind that is in bondage
he knows it to be a mind that is in bondage:
Of the mind that is released
he knows it to be a mind that is released.
■
[11][olds] When a monk has thus cultivated,
thus made much of,
the four bases of psychic power,
he calls to mind his former births in divers ways thus:
One birth,
two births,
three births,
four births,
five births,
even ten births,
twenty births,
thirty births,
forty births,
fifty births;
even a hundred births,
a thousand births,
a hundred thousand births.
He calls to mind divers aeons of involution
divers aeons of evolution,
diverse aeons of involution and evolution.[9]
He knows:
'Such was I by name,
such was I by clan,
by caste.
Thus was I nourished,
thus did I undergo pleasure and pain,
such was my span of life.'
He knows:
' Thence I deceased[10]
and rose up so and so.
There I dwelt,
of such and such a name,
of such a clan,
of such a caste,
so nourished;
such and such pleasure and pain did I undergo,
such my span of life.
Thence deceased
I rose up in the present life.'
That is how
in fact and detail[11]
he calls to mind in divers ways
his former births.
■
[238] [12][olds] When a monk has thus cultivated,
thus made much of,
the four bases of psychic power,
with the deva-sight,[12]
purified and surpassing that of man,
he beholds beings:
as they decease and rise up (elsewhere)
he knows them,
both mean and exalted,
of features fair and foul,
gone to weal
or gone to woe,
according to their deeds, thus:
'Alas! these good folk,[13]
given to the practice of evil deeds,
of evil words,
of evil thoughts,
scoffing at the noble ones,[14]
of perverted views
and reaping the fruit of their perverted views, -
these folk,
on the dissolution of body,
after death arose again in the Waste,
the Downfall
and the Constant Round.
Ah! and these good folk,
given to the practice of good deeds,
of good words,
of good thoughts,
not scoffing at the noble ones,
of sound views
and reaping the fruits of their sound views, -
these beings,
on the dissolution of body,
after death arose again in the Happy Way,
the Heaven World.'
Thus with deva-sight,
purified and surpassing that of man,
does he behold beings
as they decease and rise up (elsewhere):
he knows them,
both mean and exalted,
of features fair and foul,
gone to weal
or gone to woe
according to their deeds.
■
[13][olds] When a monk has thus cultivated,
thus made much of,
the four bases of psychic power,
by the destruction of the āsavas,
in this very life,
by his own unaided powers
he attains the heart's release,
the release by insight,
that is free from the āsavas,
realizes it
and dwells therein."[15]
[1] The title comes from § iv of this chapter.
[2] As in Chap. I. Chanda + samādhi-padhāna-saṇkhāra-samannāgata. For further details see infra, text, 277.
[3] Text misprints paccāpure for pacchā-pure. Comy. thinks his exercise is in front of him, but the goal is yet behind him. However, all these terms are defined by the Buddha towards the end of this chapter. Cf. D. iii, 223; A. i, 236, ii, 45 = Nett. 16; Brethren, 212 (Thag. 397), i.e., yathābhūtaṇ passati, as at Sn. 202.
[4] As at D, iii, the aspirant cultivates āloka-saññaṇ, 'consciousness of light.'
[5] Cf. D. 1, 78; S. ii, 121 (K.S. ii, 86); A. iii, 280, called iddhi-pāṭi-hāriyaṇ and cha-abhiññā.
[6] Āvi-bhāvaṇ, tiro-bhāvaṇ. Cf. Shak. Mids. Night's Dream, ii, 1:
Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire.
[7] Our text (and at S. ii, 121) has kāyena vasaṇ pavatteti. A. i, 170; D. i, 78, 218, read kāyena va saṇvatteti, where Dialog. trans. 'he reaches up to' (but there seems no authority for this meaning of saṇvatteti). The former reading seems preferable. DA. refers to VM. 378 ff. Our Comy. is silent, having already discussed the passage at S. ii, and again refers to VM.
[8] Sañkhitta. Cf. supra, § 1.
[9] Saṇvatta-vivatta-kappe, lit. 'uprolling and unrolling.'
[10] Ento.
[11] Sākāraṇ sa-uddesaṇ.
[12] Clairvoyance.
[13] Ime vata bhonto (both voc. and nom. plur. of bhavant) sattā. Is it (like ime vata bho) 'Alas, sirs!' or 'Alas! these good folk'? Dialog. iii, n. ad loc. trans. 'messieurs ces êtres.'
[14] Ariyānaṇ.
[15] At S. ii, 121 ff. (K.S. ii, 86) it is shown that it is possible to 'declare gnosis' (añña) without possessing any of these abnormal powers (abhiññā).
