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#### Saṁyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
36. Vedanā Saṁyutta
1. Sagāthā Vagga

#### The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
IV. The Book of the Six Sense Bases
36: Connected Discourses on Feeling
1. With Verses

#### Sutta 4

#### Pātāla Suttaṁ

# The Bottomless Abyss

Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi

Copyright Bhikkhu Bodhi 2000, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)
This selection from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṁyutta Nikāya by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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[206] [1262]

[1][pts][nypo][than] "Bhikkhus, when the uninstructed worldling makes the statement,

'In the great ocean there is a bottomless abyss,'

he makes such a statement about something that is nonexistent and unreal.

This, bhikkhus, is rather a designation for painful bodily feelings, that is, 'bottomless abyss.'

"When the uninstructed worldling is contacted by a painful bodily feeling, he sorrows, grieves, and laments; he weeps and beats his breast and becomes distraught.

This is called an uninstructed worldling who has not risen up in the bottomless abyss, one who has not gained a foothold.

"But, bhikkhus, when the instructed noble disciple is contacted by a painful bodily feeling, he does not sorrow, grieve, or lament; he does not weep and beat his breast and become distraught.

This is called an instructed noble disciple who has risen up in the bottomless abyss, one who has gained a foothold."

One who cannot endure
The arisen painful feelings,
Bodily feelings that sap one's life,
Who trembles when they touch him,
A weakling of little strength
Who weeps out loud and wails:
He has not risen up in the bottomless abyss,
Nor has he even gained a foothold.

[207] But one who is able to endure them —
The arisen painful feelings,
Bodily feelings that sap one's life —
Who trembles not when they touch him:
He has risen up in the bottomless abyss,
And he has also gained a foothold.

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