The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
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72 Māluṅkyaputta appears at MN Nos. 63 and 64. His verses here are also at Th 794–817. See too AN II 248–49, where he again requests a teaching in his old age. Spk explains that in his youth he had been negligent and had dallied with sensual pleasures; now in his old age he wanted to dwell in the forest and practise meditation.
73 Spk: The Blessed One speaks thus both to reproach him and to extol him. He reproaches him for putting off the work of an ascetic until old age, and extols him in order to set an example for the younger monks.
74 Spk explains adiṭṭhā adiṭṭhapubbā as respectively “not seen in this existence” and “never seen before” in the past. An illustration can be found at 42:11 (IV 329,20–22).
75 The same advice is given to the ascetic Bāhiya Dārucı̄riya at Ud 8,5–12. The meaning is extremely compressed and in places the passage seems to defy standard grammar (e.g., by treating na tena and na tattha as nominative predicates). Spk gives a long explanation, which I translate here partly abridged:In the form base, i.e., in what is seen by eye-consciousness, “there will be merely the seen.” For eye-consciousness sees only form in form, not some essence that is permanent, etc. So too for the remaining types of consciousness [Spk-pṭ: i.e., for the javanas], there will be here merely the seen. Or alternatively: What is called “the seen in the seen” is eye-consciousness, which means the cognizing of form in form. “Merely” indicates the limit (matt̄ ti paṃ̄ạ). It has merely the seen; thus “merely the seen,” (an attribute of) the mind. The meaning is: “My mind will be just a mere eye-consciousness.” This is what is meant: As eye-consciousness is not affected by lust, hatred, or delusion in relation to a form that has come into range, so the javana will be just like a mere eye-consciousness by being destitute of lust, etc. I will set up the javana with just eye-consciousness as the limit. I will not go beyond the limit and allow the mind to arise by way of lust, etc. So too for the heard and the sensed. The “cognized” is the object cognized by mind-door adverting (manodvārāvajjana). In that cognized, “merely the cognized” is the adverting (consciousness) as the limit. As one does not become lustful, etc., by adverting, so I will set up my mind with adverting as the limit, not allowing it to arise by way of lust, etc. You will not be “by that” (na tena): you will not be aroused by that lust, or irritated by that hatred, or deluded by that delusion. Then you will not be “therein” (na tattha): When you are not aroused by that lust, etc., then “you will not be therein”—bound, attached, established in what is seen, heard, sensed, and cognized.
Spk’s explanation of “neither here nor beyond nor in between the two” is the same as that summed up in n. 53 above, again proposed to avoid having to admit an intermediate state.
The verses that follow are intended to explicate the Buddha’s brief dictum. From these, it seems that to go beyond “merely the seen” is to ascribe a pleasing sign (piyanimitta)—an attractive attribute—to the objects seen, heard, etc., and from this such defilements as attraction and annoyance result.
76 We should read: cittam ass’ ūpahaññati.
77 Khı̄yati no pacı̄yati. No subject is provided, but Spk suggests both suffering and the various defilements would be appropriate.
78 Parihānadhamma.
79 Sarasaṅkappā saṃyojaniyā. Spk derives sara from saranti, to run (glossed dhavanti), but I take it to be from the homonym meaning “to remember” (which is also the basis of the noun sati, meaning both memory and mindfulness).
80 Cha abhibhāyatanāni. Spk glosses with abhibhavitāni āyatanāni. These are altogether different from the aṭṭha abhibhāyatanāni, the eight bases of mastery (mentioned at DN II 110–11, MN II 13–14, etc.).
81 Byāsiñcati, lit. “sprinkled with.” Spk: It occurs tinted by defilements (kilesatintạ hutvā vattati).
82 Reading dukkhaṃ viharati with Se and Ee, as against Be dukkhaṃ hoti.
83 Dhammā na pātubhavanti. Spk takes this to mean that the states of serenity and insight (samatha-vipassan̄ā dhammā) do not become manifest, but I think the point is that the internal and external sense bases (the dhammā) do not appear as impermanent, suffering, and nonself; see 35:99 just below.
84 This sutta and the next parallel 22:5–6. See III, n. 31.
85 This sutta and the next parallel 22:33–34. See III, n. 46.
86 Uddaka Rāmaputta was the Buddha’s second teacher when he was engaged in his quest for enlightenment; see MN I 165–66. In the declaration the reference of the pronoun idaṃ, “this,” occurring thrice, is unclear. Spk says it is a mere indeclinable (nip̄tamatta), but adds that it might represent “this statement” (idạ vacanạ). Perhaps it should be connected with gaṇḍamūlaṃ, though this is uncertain. Vedagū is a common brahmanical epithet adopted by the Buddha as a description of the arahant. Sabbajı̄, “all-conqueror,” is glossed as “one who has definitely conquered and overcome the entire round.” Ee palikhataṃ should be corrected to apalikhataṃ, as in Be and Se.
87 A stock description of the body, in SN found also at 35:245 and 41:5. Spk explains rubbing (ucch̄dana) as the application of scents and ointments to remove its bad smell, and pressing (parimaddana) as massaging with water to dispel affliction in the limbs. The entire description shows, in stages, the origination, growth, decline, and destruction of the body.
88 Yogakkhemı̄pariyāyaṃ. My verbose rendering of the expression is intended to capture the word play hidden in the expository section (see following note). Yogakkhema is often a synonym for arahantship or Nibbāna, explained by the commentators as security or release from the four bonds (yoga) of sensual desire, existence, ignorance, and views.
89 There is a pun here, impossible to replicate, based on a twofold derivation of yogakkhemı̄. Properly, the latter is a personalized form of the abstract yogakkhema, meaning one secure from bondage. Besides meaning bond, however, yoga can also mean effort or exertion, a meaning relevant to the preceding sentence: tesañ ca pahānāya akkhāsi yogaṃ. Phonetically, this seems to connect the verb akkhāsi (via the root khā) to khemı̄, though they have no etymological relation at all. Thus yogakkhemı̄ can mean either “one secure from bondage” (the true meaning) or “the declarer of effort” (the contrived meaning conveyed by the pun). Spk says that one is called yogakkhemı̄, not merely because one declares (the effort), but because one has abandoned (desire and lust).
90 Cp. 22:150, and see III, n. 146.
91 These are the three modes of conceit; see 22:49.
92 This sutta and the next parallel 22:120–21.
93 This sutta and the next closely resemble 35:26.
94 Be’s orthography is preferable here: paṭimukk’ assa mārapāso (and just below, ummukk’ assa m̄rap̄so). Spk: Māra’s snare is fastened to, wound around, his neck. Cp. It 56,15–21.
95 The bracketed words here and below are in Be only.
96 See 2:26 (= AN II 47–49), to which this sutta might be taken as a commentary.
97 What follows is stock, found also at MN I 110–11, MN III 223–25, and elsewhere. Spk explains that the Buddha retired to his dwelling because he had foreseen that the bhikkhus would approach Ānanda, and that Ānanda would give a proper answer that would win praise from himself. The bhikkhus would then esteem Ānanda and this would promote their welfare and happiness for a long time.
98 Yena kho āvuso lokasmiṃ lokasaññı̄ hoti lokamānı̄ ayaṃ vuccati ariyassa vinaye loko. On the implications of this, see 2:26 and I, n. 182.
99 On the six sense bases as “the world” in the sense of disintegrating, see 35:82. Here they are called the world because they are the conditions for being a perceiver and a conceiver of the world. We might conjecture that the five physical sense bases are prominent in making one a “perceiver of the world,” the mind base in making one a “conceiver of the world.” No such distinction, however, is made in the text. The six sense bases are at once part of the world (“that in the world”) and the media for the manifestation of a w
orld (“that by which”). The “end of the world” that must be reached to make an end to suffering is Nibbāna, which is called (among other things) the cessation of the six sense bases.
100 Cetaso samphuṭṭhapubbā, glossed by Spk with cittena anubhūtapubbā , “experienced before by the mind.”Spk: My mind may often stray (tatra me cittaṃ bahulaṃ gaccheyya): He shows, “On many occasions it would move towards the five cords of sensual pleasure previously experienced when I was enjoying prosperity in the three palaces with their three kinds of dancing girls, etc.” Or towards those that are present (paccuppannesu v̄): He shows, “During my years of striving it would often arise having taken, as cords of sensual pleasure, such beautiful sense objects as the flowering groves and flocks of birds, etc.” Or slightly towards those in the future (appạ vā an̄gatesu): He shows, “It might arise even slightly towards the future, when he thinks, ‘Metteyya will be the Buddha, Saṅkha the king, Ketumatı̄ the capital.’” Apparently Spk cannot conceive of beautiful future sense objects apart from a future Buddha.
101 Attarūpena. Spk: Attano hitakāmajātikena, “by one who desires his own welfare.” The expression also occurs at AN II 120,7 foll. Spk explains that diligence and mindfulness are to be practised for the purpose of guarding the mind in regard to the five cords of sensual pleasures.
102 Be and Se read se āyatane veditabbe—supported by Spk (Be and Se)—as against ye āyatane veditabbe in Ee. This is apparently an old Eastern form of the neuter nominative that for some reason escaped transposition into standard Pāli.Spk: “Since diligence and mindfulness are to be practised for the sake of guarding the mind, and since, when that base is understood, there is nothing to be done by diligence and mindfulness, therefore ‘that base is to be understood’; the meaning is, ‘that cause is to be known’ (tạ kāraṇaṃ j̄nitabbạ).” At Ud 80,10–16, Nibbāna is described as an āyatana.
103 I read with Se and Ee: yattha cakkhuñ ca nirujjhati rūpasaññā ca virajjati. Be consistently has the second verb too as nirujjhati, but the variant in Se and Ee is more likely to be original.
104 Saḷāyatananirodhaṃ … sandhāya bhāsitaṃ. Spk: “It is Nibbāna that is called the cessation of the six sense bases, for in Nibbāna the eye, etc., cease and perceptions of forms, etc., fade away.” We might note that Ānanda’s answer, though called an account of the “detailed meaning,” is actually shorter than the Buddha’s original statement.
105 Sa-up̄d̄no ... bhikkhu no parinibbāyati. To bring out the implicit metaphor, the line might also have been rendered, “A bhikkhu with fuel is not fully quenched.”
106 Pañcasikha appears in DN No. 21 as a celestial musician and poet.
107 For a detailed analysis, see Vism 20–22 (Ppn 1:53–59).
108 See Vism 31–33 (Ppn 1:89–94).
109 Identical with MN No. 147.
110 Vimuttiparipācaniyā dhammā. Spk interprets these as the fifteen qualities that purify the five faculties (faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom), namely, in regard to each faculty: avoiding people who lack the faculty, associating with those endowed with it, and reflecting on suttas that inspire its maturation. Spk expands on this with another fifteen qualities: the five faculties again; the five perceptions partaking of penetration, namely, perception of impermanence, suffering, nonself, abandoning, and dispassion (on the last two, see AN V 110,13–20); and the five qualities taught to Meghiya, namely, noble friendship, the virtue of the monastic rules, suitable conversation, energy, and wisdom (see AN IV 357,5–30; Ud 36,3–28).
111 Spk: These devas had made their aspiration (for enlightenment) along with Rāhula when the latter made his aspiration (to become the son of a Buddha) at the feet of the Buddha Padumuttara. They had been reborn in various heavenly worlds but on this day they all assembled in the Blind Men’s Grove.
112 Spk: In this sutta “the vision of the Dhamma” denotes the four paths and their fruits. For some devas became streamenterers, some once-returners, some nonreturners, and some arahants. The devas were innumerable.
113 At AN I 26,11 he is declared the foremost male lay disciple among those who offer agreeable things (etadaggạṃ manāpadāyakānaṃ); see too AN IV 208–12.
114 At AN I 26,12 he is declared the foremost of those who attend on the Saṅgha (etadaggạ saṅgh’ upạ̣h̄k̄nạ); see too AN IV 212–16.
115 For the story of his conversion, see MN No. 56.
116 At AN I 23,25 he is declared the foremost of those who sound a lion’s roar (etadaggạ sı̄han̄dik̄nạ). His declaration of arahantship is at 48:49; see too Vin II 111–12.
117 He was the king of Kosambı̄; for details of his story, see Dhp-a I 161–227; BL 1:247–93. Spk: One day the king had gone to his park and was lying down while some of his concubines massaged his feet and others entertained him with music and song. When he dozed off the women left him to take a walk around the park. They saw the Venerable Bhāradvāja meditating under a tree and approached him to pay their respects. Meanwhile the king awoke and, seeing his concubines sitting around the ascetic, he became furious and tried to attack the elder with a nest of biting ants. His plan backfired and the ants fell over him and bit him all over. The women reproached him for his rude conduct and he became repentant. On the next occasion when the elder came to the park, the king approached him and asked his questions.
118 Addhānaṃ āpādenti. Spk glosses: paveṇiṃ paṭipādenti; dı̄gharattaṃ anubandhāpenti; “they extend it continuously; they pursue it for a long time.”
119 Mātumattı̄su mātucittaṃ upaṭṭhapetha. Lit. “Set up a mother-mind towards those of a mother-measure,” and similarly with the other two. Spk says that one’s mother, sisters, and daughters are the three “respected objects” (garukārammaṇa ) who are not to be transgressed against. Interestingly, this saying, though ascribed to the Buddha as if it were a common piece of advice, is not found elsewhere in the Nikāyas.
120 This is the meditation subject called asubhasaññā, perception of foulness (e.g., at AN V 109,18–27), or kāyagatāsati, explained in detail at Vism 239–66 (Ppn 8:42–144).
121 Abhāvitakāyā. Spk: Undeveloped in the “body” of the five (sense) doors (abhāvitapañcadvārikakākyā), i.e., lacking in sense restraint.
122 Dhātunānatta. See 14:1–10. For each sense modality there are three elements—sense faculty, object, and consciousness—hence a total of eighteen.
123 Spk: In dependence on a contact to be experienced as pleasant: that is, a contact associated with eye-consciousness that functions as a condition, by way of decisive support (upanissaya), for a pleasant feeling in the javana phase. The pleasant feeling arises in the javana phase in dependence on a single contact. The same method in the following passages.
124 As at 22:3–4.
125 The quote is from 14:4.
126 Manāpaṃ itth’ etan ti pajānāti. Spk: He understands the agreeable form seen by him thus, “Such it is,” that is, “This is just an agreeable one.”
127 I read with Be and Se, Cakkhuviññāṇaṃ sukhavedanı̄yañ ca phassaṃ paṭicca…, which seems preferable to Ee, Cakkhuviññāṇaṃ sukhavedaniyaṃ. Sukhavedaniyaṃ phassaṃ paṭicca…. It is unclear whether cakkhuviññāṇaṃ is being listed as an additional element or is intended merely as a condition for the feeling. I follow Spk in taking it in the former sense: “(There is) eye-consciousness, and a contact which is a condition for pleasant feeling under the heading of decisive support, proximity, contiguity, or association (see Vism 532–41; Ppn 17:66–100). In dependence on that contact to be experienced as pleasant, there arises a pleasant feeling.”
128 See 22:1 and III, n. 1.
129 Be: Seleyyakāni karonti; Se: selissakāni karontā; Ee: selissakāni karonti. Spk’s explanation suggests the games were like our “leapfrog,” i.e., one boy jumping over the back of another.
130 The first four terms are a stock brahmanical denigration of ascetics. Ba
ndhupādāpaccā alludes to the brahmin idea that Brahmā created ascetics from the soles of his feet (below even the suddas, who were created from his knees, while the brahmins were created from his mouth). Spk glosses bharataka as kuṭumbikā, “landholders,” though I think it is a derogatory term for the Buddhist lay supporters.
131 Spk: They took delight in Dhamma, namely, in the ten courses of wholesome action, and in meditation (jh̄na), i.e., in the meditations of the eight attainments.
132 Katā kiñcikkhabhāvanā. The exact meaning is obscure, but I translate in accordance with the gloss of Spk: āmisakiñcikkhassa vaḍḍhanatthāya katan ti attho, “done for the sake of an increase in their material possessions.”
133 One is intent upon (adhimuccati) an object by way of greed, repelled by it (bȳpajjati) by way of ill will or aversion.
134 Amhākaṃ ācariyabhariyāya. This might have been taken to mean “our teacher’s wife” (a widow), but CPD, s.v. ācariyabhariyā, says with reference to this text: “dealing with a female teacher, the meaning becomes: our mistress the teacher.” Above, the youth was described as a student (antev̄sı̄) of this brahmin lady. Waldschmidt has published a Skt version of this sutta (see Bibliography).