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#### Aṅguttara Nikāya
Catukka Nipāta
XX: Mahā Vagga

#### The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Fours
Chapter XX: The Great Chapter

#### Sutta 198

#### Tapa Suttaṁ

# The Self-Tormentor

Translated from the Pali by F. L. Woodward, M.A.

Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved
For details see Terms of Use.

[218]

[1] Thus have I heard:

On a certain occasion Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:

"Monks."

"Yes, lord," they replied, and the Exalted One said:

"Monks, these four persons are found existing in the world.

What four?

Herein, monks, a certain person
is a self-tormentor,
given to the practice of self-torment.

Herein again a certain person
is a tormentor of another,
given to the practice of tormenting another.

Yet again a certain person
is a tormentor both of self and another,
and given to the practice of tormenting
both self and another.

And yet again, monks, a certain person
is a tormentor neither of self nor of another,
not given to the practice of tormenting self and another
he who torments neither self nor another
in this very life is no more hungry,[1]
allayed,
become cool,
one who has penetrated bliss,
he dwells with self that has become Brahma.[2]

And how, monks, is a person
a self-tormentor,
one given to the practice of self-torment?

In this case a certain one[3] goes naked,
he has loose habits,
he licks his hands clean,
he will have none of your

"Come in, your reverence!"

or

"Stop a bit, your reverence!"

He refuses food brought to him,
he refuses special food,
he refuses an invitation to a meal.

He refuses food straight from the pot
or straight from the pan,
or within the threshould of a door,
or among the firewood,[4]
or among the rice-pounders.

He refuses food
when a couple are eating,
or from a pregnant [219] woman,
from a woman giving suck,
or from one having intercourse with a man.

He refuses food
from a mixed collection,
or where a dog stands by,
or where flies are swarming.

He eats neither fish nor flesh,
drinks no liquor or intoxicant,
not even rice-gruel.

He asks an alms from one house only,
an eater of one mouthful,
or maybe begs from two houses,
eats two mouthfuls only,
or maybe begs from three houses,
eats three mouthfuls only,
or maybe begs from four houses,
eats four mouthfuls only,
or maybe begs from five houses,
eats five mouthfuls only,
or maybe begs from six houses,
eats six mouthfuls only,
or maybe begs from seven houses,
eats seven mouthfuls only.

He exists on just one little dole of food,
or on just two little doles,
or on just three little doles,
or on just four little doles,
or on just five little doles,
or on just six little doles,
or on just seven little doles.

He takes food only once a day
he takes food only once in two days
he takes food only once in three days
he takes food only once in four days
he takes food only once in five days
he takes food only once in six days
he takes food only once in seven days.

Thus he lives given to the practice
of taking food by rule,
even to the interval of half a month.

He feeds on vegetables,
on millet,
on raw rice,
on scraps of leather,
on water-plants,
rice-powder,
burnt scum of rice,
flour of oil-seeds,
on grass
and cowdung.

He just exists
on forest roots
and fallen fruit.

He wears coarse hempen clothes,
cloth of different fibres,
discarded corpse-cloths,
rags from a rubbish heap,
tree-bark fibre,
antelope skins,
strips of antelope skin,
clothes made of kusa grass,
made of wood shavings,
blankets made of human hair,
made of horsehair,
made of owls' wings.

He is a plucker out of hair and beard
and given to this practice.

He remains standing
and refuses a seat.

He squats down
and keeps a squatting posture.

He is a "bed-of-thorns" man,
he makes his bed on spikes.

He lives given to the practice
of going down to the water to bathe
even a third time in the evening also.

Thus in divers ways
he lives given to these practices
which torment the body.

Thus, monks, a person
is a self-tormentor
and given to that practice.

§

And how, monks, is a person
a tormentor of another
and given to that practice?

Herein a certain person is a butcher,
a pig-killer,
a fowler,
deer-stalker,
a hunter,
a fisherman,
a bandit,
an executioner,
a jailer,
or (one of) any others
who follow a bloody calling.[5]

[220] That, monks, is how a person
tortures another
and is given to such practice of torture.

§

And how, monks, is a person
a tormentor of both self and another
and given to the practice of tormenting self and another?

Herein, monks, a certain person
is a rajah or nobleman who has been consecrated,
or a brahmin of a great house.

Having built a new mote-hall[6]
on the east side of a town,
he gets his head and beard shaved,
dons a shaggy skin,
smears his body with ghee and oil,
scratches his back with a deer's horn
and enters the mote-hall
together with his chief wife
and brahmin chaplain.

There he makes his bed
upon the bare[7] grass-covered ground.

Then the rajah lives
on the milk from one teat of a cow
with calf of like colour;
his chief wife lives
on the milk from the second teat;
the brahmin chaplain lives
on the milk from the third teat,
while that from the fourth
they offer as sacrifice to the fire.

The calf is fed with what is left.

Then he says:

"Let so many bulls be slain for the sacrifice;
let so many cows,
so many heifers,
so many goats,
so many rams,
(let so many horses)[8]
be slain for the sacrifice.

Let them cut down so many trees
for sacrificial posts;
let them mow so much kusa grass
for the sacrifice."[9]

Then whosoever are called his slaves,
messengers
or workmen,
scared by fear of the rod,
with tearful faces
set about their preparations.

That, monks, is how a person
is a tormentor of both self and another
given to the practice of tormenting both self and others.

§

And how, monks, is a person
a tormentor neither of self nor of another,
given neither to the practice of tormenting self
nor to that of tormenting others
[221] he who torments neither self nor another
in this very life
no more hungry,
allayed,
become cool
one who has penetrated bliss,
he dwells with self that has become Brahma?

In this case, monks, a Tathāgata arises in the world,
an Arahant,
a Fully Enlightened One,
perfect in knowledge and conduct,
a Wellfarer,
a world-knower,
unsurpassed driver of men to be driven,
teacher of devas and mankind,
a Buddha,
an Exalted One.

He makes known this world
with its Devas,
its Maras,
its Brahmas,
with its host of recluses and brahmins,
of devas and mankind,
himself having thoroughly understood
and realized it.

He teaches Dhamma
that is lovely in youth,
lovely in middle age,
lovely at the end of life,
both in the spirit
and the letter.

He makes plain the God-life
entirely complete
and fully purified.

Then a housefather
or one of a household
or one born in some family or other
hears that Dhamma,
and so hearing
acquires faith in the Tathāgata.

Possessed of this faith
so acquired
he thus reflects:

Oppressive is this household life,
a way of dust.[10]

The way of going forth
is of the open air.

It is no easy thing
for one living the household life
to practise the God-life
in all its completeness,
in utter purity
like a polished shell.

How if I were to get my beard shorn and,
donning the saffron robe,
were to go forth from home
to the homeless?

Then he, some time later on,
abandoning the whole mass of his wealth
whether small or great,
abandoning his circle of kinsmen
whether small or great,
gets his beard shorn,
dons the saffron robes
and goes forth from home
to the homeless.

He, having thus gone forth,
having entered upon the way of life
in the training followed by monks,
abandoning the slaying of creatures,
abstains therefrom.

He lives as one
who has laid down the rod,
who has laid down the knife,
who has scruples,
is kind
and has compassion
for every living thing.

Abandoning the taking of what is not given,
he abstains therefrom.

He lives as one
who takes only what is given,
who waits for what is given,
he lives with a self[11]
that has become pure,
not [222] by stealth.

Abandoning the unchaste life
he lives chaste,
lives a life aloof,
abstaining from the sexual act,
from dealings with womenfolk.[12]

Abandoning falsehood
he abstains therefrom,
he speaks the truth,
joins truth[13] to truth,
unswerving,
reliable,
no deceiver of the world.

Abandoning slanderous speech
he abstains therefrom.

When he hears something at one place
he spreads it not abroad elsewhere
to cause dissension among these folk.

When he hears something at another place
he spreads it not abroad elsewhere
to cause dissension among these folk.

Thus he reconciles
those who are at variance
and confirms
the friendly.

He delights in harmony,
finds pleasure herein,
rejoices in harmony
and utters words
that make for harmony.

Abandoning bitter speech
he abstains therefrom.

Whatever speech is blameless,
pleasing to the ear,
affectionate,
speech that goes to the heart,
is urbane,
delights many folk,
pleases many folk, -
such speech does he utter.

Abandoning idle babble
he abstains therefrom.

He is one who speaks in season,
speaks of facts,
speaks sense,
speaks according to Dhamma,
speaks according to Vinaya.

He speaks words worth treasuring up,
that are seasonable,
reasonable,[14]
discriminating
and concerned with profit.[15]

He is one who abstains
from injury to seed-life and plant-life;[16]
lives on one meal a day,
refrains from food at night,
abstains from food at unseasonable hours,
from flowers,
scents,
unguents,
adornments
and finery,
from shows of nautch-dancing
and singing,
from beds high and broad,
from taking gifts of gold and silver,
from taking gifts of uncooked grain,
of uncooked flesh,
from gifts of women and girls,
female and male slaves,
of goats and sheep,
fowls and swine,
elephants,
cattle,
horses
and mares.

He abstains from gifts of fields,
cultivated or waste,
from buying and selling,
sending messengers
[223] or going as such,
from cheating with scales,
copper vessels
or measures,
from taking bribes to pervert justice,
from cheating
and crooked ways.[17]

He abstains from cutting,
flogging,
binding,
highway robbery,
plundering
and deeds of violence.

He is content with a robe
sufficient to protect the body,[18]
with alms-food enough
for his belly's need.

Wherever he may go
he takes these with him.

Just as, for instance,
a bird upon the wing,
wherever he may fly,
flies with the load of his wings, -
even so a monk is content with a robe
sufficient to protect the body,
with alms-food enough
for his belly's need.

Wherever he may go
he takes these with him.

Possessed of this Ariyan mass of morals,
he experiences in himself
the bliss of blamelessness.

Seeing an object with the eye[19]
he is not misled by its outer view
nor by its lesser details.

Since coveting and dejection,
evil,
unprofitable states,
might flow in upon one
who lives with the faculty of eye uncontrolled,
he applies himself to such control,
sets a guard over the faculty of eye
and attains control thereof.

Hearing a sound with the ear
he is not misled by its outer view
nor by its lesser details.

Since coveting and dejection,
evil,
unprofitable states,
might flow in upon one
who lives with the faculty of ear uncontrolled,
he applies himself to such control,
sets a guard over the faculty of ear
and attains control thereof.

With the nose smelling a scent
he is not misled by its outer view
nor by its lesser details.

Since coveting and dejection,
evil,
unprofitable states,
might flow in upon one
who lives with the faculty of nose uncontrolled,
he applies himself to such control,
sets a guard over the faculty of nose
and attains control thereof.

With the tongue tasting a savour
he is not misled by its outer view
nor by its lesser details.

Since coveting and dejection,
evil,
unprofitable states,
might flow in upon one
who lives with the faculty of tongue uncontrolled,
he applies himself to such control,
sets a guard over the faculty of tongue
and attains control thereof.

With body contacting tangibles
he is not misled by its outer view
nor by its lesser details.

Since coveting and dejection,
evil,
unprofitable states,
might flow in upon one
who lives with the faculty of body uncontrolled,
he applies himself to such control,
sets a guard over the faculty of body
and attains control thereof.

With mind cognizing mental states,
he is not misled by their outer view
nor by their lesser details.

But since coveting and dejection,
evil,
unprofitable states,
might flow in upon one
who lives with the faculty of mind uncontrolled,
he applies himself to such control,
sets a guard over the faculty of mind
and attains control thereof.

Thus possessed of this Ariyan restraint of faculties
he experiences in himself
unadulterated bliss.[20]

In going forth
and returning
he acts composedly.[21]

In looking in front
and looking behind
he acts composedly.

In bending or relaxing
he acts composedly.

In wearing his robe
and bearing outer robe and bowl
he acts composedly.

In eating,
drinking,
chewing
and tasting
he acts composedly.

In easing himself,
in going,
standing,
sitting,
sleeping,
waking,
in speaking
and keeping silence
he acts composedly.

[224] He, possessed of this Ariyan mass of morals
and this Ariyan restraint of the faculties
and this Ariyan mindfulness and composure
(and this Ariyan contentedness),[22]
resorts to a secluded lodging-place,
a forest,
the root of a tree,
a hill,
ravine,
grotto
or cave,
a charnel-field,
a jungle-path,
an open space,
a heap of straw.

After his meal,
when he has returned from his alms-round
he sits down cross-legged,
keeping his body erect
and fixing his attention
in front of him.

Then abandoning the hankering after the world,
he abides with heart freed therefrom;
having regard for the welfare
of every thing that lives
he purges his heart
of the taint of ill-will.

Abandoning sloth-and-torpor
he remains freed therefrom,
wideawake,[23]
mindful,
composed,
and purges his heart
of sloth-and-torpor.

Abandoning distraction-and-flurry
he abides undistracted at heart
in the inner self,
he purges his heart
of distraction-and-flurry.

Abandoning doubt-and-wavering,
he abides as one
who has transcended them;
no longer questioning this or that
in things profitable,
he purges his heart
of doubt-and-wavering.

Thus abandoning these five hindrances,
these taints of the heart
which cause the weakening of wisdom,[24]
aloof from sense-desires,
aloof from evil conditions,
enters upon the first musing,
which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained,
born of seclusion,
zestful and easeful,
and abides therein.

Then by the calming down
of thought directed and sustained
he attains and abides in the second musing,
that inward calming,
that single-mindedness
apart from thought directed and sustained,
that is born of mental balance,
zestful and easeful.

Then by the fading out of zest,
disinterested,
mindful and composed,
he experiences with body
that ease
of which the Ariyans declare:

"He who is disinterested and alert,
dwells at ease,"

and he attains and abides in the third musing.

Then by abandoning both ease and discomfort,
by the ending of both the happiness and unhappiness he had before,
he attains and abides in the fourth musing,
a state of neither ease nor discomfort,
an equanimity of utter purity.

[ed1]He then, with mind thus composed,
made pure and translucent,
stainless and with its taints vanished away,
made pliant and workable,
fixed and unperturbed,
(applies and) bends down his mind
to acquiring knowledge of his former births.

In divers ways he recalls his former births, thus:

One birth,
two births,
three, four, five,
ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty,
a hundred,
a thousand,
a hundred thousand births:
the various destructions of aeons,
the various renewals of aeons,
both the destructions and renewals of eons, thus:

I lived there,
was named thus,
was of such a clan,
of such a caste,
was thus supported,
had such and such pleasant and painful experiences,
had such length of days,
disappeared thence
and arose elsewhere:
there too I lived,
was named thus,
was of such a clan,
of such a caste,
was thus supported,
had such and such pleasant and painful experiences,
had such length of days,
disappeared thence
and arose elsewhere.

Thus he calls to mind
in all their specific details,
in all their characteristics,
in many various ways,
his previous states of existence.

He then, with mind thus composed,
made pure and translucent,
stainless and with its taints vanished away,
made pliant and workable,
fixed and unperturbed,
(applies and) bends down his mind
to acquiring knowledge of the fall and rise of beings
from one existence to another.

With the deva-sight,
purified and surpassing that of men,
he beholds beings deceasing
and rising up again,
beings both mean and excellent,
fair and foul,
gone to a happy state,
gone to a woeful state
according to their deeds
(so as to say):

"Alas! these worthies,
given to the practice of evil deeds,
of evil words,
of evil thoughts,
scoffing at the Noble Ones,
of perverted views
and reaping the fruits of their perverted views, -
these beings,
on the dissolution of body after death
arose again in the Waste,
the Woeful Way,
the Downfall,
in Purgatory!"

Or:

"Ah, these worthies,
given to the practice of good deeds,
of good words,
of good thoughts,
not scoffing at the Noble Ones,
but of sound views
and reaping the fruits of their sound views, -
these beings,
on the dissolution of the body after death
arose again in the Happy Lot,
in the Heaven World."

Thus with the deva-sight,
purified and surpassing that of men,
he beholds beings deceasing
and rising up again,
beings both mean and excellent,
fair and foul,
gone to a happy state,
gone to a woeful state
according to their deeds.

Then with heart calmed and purified,
cleansed and flawless,
void of taints,
grown soft and pliable,
fixed and come to utter peace,
he bends down[25] his mind
to the knowledge of how to destroy the āsavas.

He comes to know as it really is:

"This is Ill."

He comes to know,
as it really is:

"This is the arising of Ill."

He comes to know,
as it really is:

"This is the ending of Ill."

He comes to know,
as it really is:

"This is the practice going to the ending of Ill."

He comcs to know as it really is:

"These are āsavas."

"This is [225] the arising of āsavas."

"This is the ending of āsavas."

"This is the practice going to the ending of āsavas."

In him, thus knowing,
thus seeing,
his heart is released from the āsava of sense-desire;
his heart is released from the āsava of becoming;
his heart is released from the āsava of ignorance.[26]

By release comes the knowledge:

"I am released."[27]

He comes to know:

"Destroyed is rebirth.

Lived is the God-life.

Done is what was to be done.

There is no beyond to this state of things."

Thus, monks, a person
is neither a tormentor of self nor of another,
not given to the practice of tormenting self and another.

He, being neither of these,
in this very life
hungers no more,
he is allayed,
become cool,
he abides in the experience of bliss
with a self that has become Brahma.[28]

So, monks, these are the four persons found existing in the world.'

[1] Nicchāto-nittaṇha. Cf. K.S. iv, 136.

[2] Brahma-bhūtena attanā viharati. [Ed.: Woodward and the various versions of the Pali have punctuated this as two separate ideas, (the BJT Pali, at the beginning of the section on this person, has it correctly) but in that it makes no sense that way, I have made it part of the previous description of the fourth type of person here and at the beginning of the section on this person; at the end it make sense as a separate idea for here he has accomplished the fact.]

[3] Dial. i, 227; as at A. i, 295 (G.S. i, 273); M. i, 342 = F.Dial. iv, 248; Pugg. 56. Cf. Kathā-vatthu, I, i, § 74, 236, and Introduction above.

[4] Daṇḍa-m-antaraṁ. What sort of sticks? See Dial. iii, 228 n. [Ed.: ?] Comy. at A. i = DA. ii, 354 expl. 'lest it be put there specially for me.'

[5] cf. A. iii, 383.

[6] Comy. takes it to mean yañña-sālaṁ (hall of sacrifice).

[7] Text anantarahitāya (from antaradhāyati); Sinh. text antarahitāya; Comy. anattharahitāya (?) (editorial correction), expl. as asanthātāya, 'without coverlet.' My MSS. of Comy. have anantarahita, = 'uncovered' (with nothing between). P.Dict. refers to Vin. i, 47, ii, 209; M. ii, 57.

[8] Only in Burmese MSS.

[9] Barihisa. For the passage cf. D. i, 141; M. i, 344.

[10] So Comy., but adds that the Great Commentary takes it as uṭṭhān'aṭṭhānaṁ (impossibility of rising from) rāga-rajādīnaṁ.

[11] Cf. p. 3.

[12] Gāma-dhammā. This word used to be trans. 'the village, or pagan, practice,' but cf. mātu-gāma.

[13] Sacca-sandho. Comy. at A. i, 212, saccena saccaṁ sandahati.

[14] Sāpadesaṁ, also acc. to Comy. 'with illustration.'

[15] Pariyanta-vaṭiṁ; cf. supra, § 22.

[16] Bīja-gāma bhūta-gāma; cf. Dial. i, 6, iii, 40; K.S. v, 394.

[17] Reading sāci-yoga, with my Sinh. MSS., for sāvi- of the rest; SA. yāci- (on S. v, 473); Pugg.A. 240.

[18] D. i, 71 = Pugg. 58; Dial. i, 81. Comy. has more to say on the topic of alms than on any spiritual matter.

[19] Cf. K.S. iv, 63, etc.

[20] Avyāseka = kilesehi anāsitta. Comy.

[21] Here Comy. refers to DA. i, on Sāmañña-phala-sutta, pp. 184-193; cf. K.S. iv, 142.

[22] Not in Sinh. texts.

[23] Āloka-saññi. Comy. 'with consciousness calm to recognize light, whether by night or by day.' Cf. Dial. iii, 44, 'conscious of light,' probably wide awake.

[24] I trans. at K.S. v, 80, 'which weaken insight,' but this is wrong. Cf. Comy. ad S. v, 97, paññā dubbalā hoti. Here Comy. has paññāya uppajjituṁ na denti, 'do not give wisdom a chance to arise.' These nīvaraṇā are also called (S. v, 97) 'causing blindness, sightlessness, nescience, ending wisdom, causing distress, not conducive to Nibbāna.'

[25] Cf. D. i, 84; A. iii, 17.

[26] The three, not the (? later) four āsavas.

[27] Texts vimuttasmiṁ vimuttam iti, but DA. i, 225 reads vimuttasmiṁ vimiutt'amhī ti, which I follow.

[28] The foregoing formula of the recluse-life occurs in the same contcxt at Majjhima, i, 344 f., and at iii, 33 f. in a different context. A short version occurs in the former context at Majjhima, ii, 159.

[ed1] This and the next section are omitted by Woodward and the PTS Pali, abridged in the BJT, abbreviated in the CSCD Pali and referenced to AN 3.58 by Bhk. Bodhi.

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