A Practitioner’s Anthology of the Samyutta Nikaya, Book 1
- Sagacious Simian
- Dec 2, 2024
- 28 min read
Compiled and adapted by Sagacious Simian, using Bhikkhu Bodhi’s complete translation.
Book 1: Sagathavagga (“The Book with Verses”)
Focus: A random assortment of sutras covering a wide range of topics that just so happen to contain verses in them, making it a source of beautiful poetry. This book also has an explicit emphasis on the mythical beings that populate the early Buddhist cosmology, which helps to show how the Buddha plays the role of the supreme Enlightened One, the teacher of both humans and the celestials.
Length: ~200 pages, 11 chapters (1-11)
Chapter Overviews:
Ch. 1: Variable dialogues with random celestial beings
Ch. 2: Variable dialogues with young celestial beings that emphasize monastic training
Ch. 3: Variable dialogues with King Pasenadi of Kosala that emphasize householder/layman's practice
Ch. 4: Variable spiritual encounters with Mara the Evil One
Ch. 5: Variable sutras involving female monks/nuns encountering Mara the Evil One
Ch. 6: Variable dialogues with heavenly beings from the higher planes
Ch. 7: Variable encounters with priests and other holy men
Ch. 8: Variable monastic verses by the monk Vangisa
Ch. 9: Struggling monks approached by magical beings that bolster them
Ch. 10: Variable stories involving wrathful spirits
Ch. 11: Variable fables involving the mythical Sakka, Lord of all celestial beings, with an emphasis on the practices of householders
Selections by Chapter:
Ch. 1 – 1.1; 1.2; 1.34; 1.35; 1.38; 1.57; 1.62-66; 1.69-71
Ch. 2 – 2.2; 2.14; 2.17; 2.20; 2.27
Ch. 3 – 3.2; 3.5; 3.7; 3.17; 3.20
Ch. 4 – 4.6; 4.7; 4.15-17; 4.21; 4.24
Ch. 5 – 5.1; 5.3; 5.9-10
Ch. 6 – 6.1; 6.15
Ch. 7 – 7.11; 7.18
Ch. 8 – 8.2; 8.4
Ch. 9 – 9.2; 9.11
Ch. 10 – 10.3; 10.12
Ch. 11 – 11.19
For a convenient PDF of this anthology, download here:
Chapter 1 Selections:
SN 1.1
When the night had advanced, a certain celestial being of stunning beauty, illuminating the entire surroundings, approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he paid homage to the Blessed One, stood to one side, and said to him:
“How, dear sir, did you cross the flood (samsara)?”
“By not halting, friend, and by not straining I crossed the flood.”
“But how is it, dear sir, that by not halting and by not straining you crossed the flood?”
“When I came to a standstill, friend, then I sank; but when I struggled, then I got swept away. It is in this way, friend, that by not halting and by not straining I crossed the flood.”
The celestial being said:
“After a long time at last I see
A holy man who is fully quenched,
Who by not halting, not straining,
Has crossed over attachment to the world.”
The Teacher approved. Then that celestial being, thinking, “The Teacher has approved of me,” paid homage to the Blessed One and, keeping him on the right, disappeared right there.
SN 1.2
When the night had advanced, a certain celestial being of stunning beauty, illuminating the entire surroundings, approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he paid homage to the Blessed One, stood to one side, and said to him:
“Do you know, dear sir, emancipation, release, seclusion for beings?”
“I know, friend, emancipation, release, seclusion for beings.”
“But in what way, dear sir, do you know emancipation, release, seclusion for beings?”
The Blessed One replied in verse:
“By the utter destruction of delight in worldly existence,
By the extinction of false perception and false consciousness,
By the cessation and extinguishment of unwholesome feelings:
It is thus, friend, that I know for beings—
Emancipation, release, seclusion.”
SN 1.34
A celestial being, standing to one side of the Buddha, recited this verse in the presence of the Blessed One:
“Among humans there are
No permanent sensual pleasures;
Here there are just desirable things.
When a person is bound to these,
Heedless in their midst,
From the realm of Death (samsara) he does not reach
The state of ultimate release.”
“Misery is born of craving; suffering is born of craving.
By the removal of craving, misery is removed;
by the removal of misery, suffering is removed.”
“They are not sense pleasures, the world’s pretty things:
Man’s sensuality is the intention of feverish desire.
The pretty things remain as they are in the world
But the wise remove lust for them.”
“One should discard anger, cast off self-conceit,
Transcend all the mental fetters.
No sufferings torment one who is attached to nothing,
Who does not cling to mind or body.
He abandoned judging, did not assume self-conceit;
He cut off craving here for mind and body.”
“Though divinities and humans search for him
Here and beyond, in the heavens and all abodes,
They do not find the one whose conceptual knots are cut,
The one untroubled, free of longing.”
“If divinities and humans have not seen
The one thus liberated here or beyond,
Are they to be praised who venerate him,
The best of men, faring for the good of humans?”
The Buddha replied:
“Those monks too become worthy of praise,”
“Who venerate him, the one thus liberated.
But having known Dharma and abandoned doubt,
Those monks become surmounters of spiritual ties.”
SN 1.35
A celestial being, floating in the air, recited this verse sharply in the presence of the Blessed One:
“If one shows oneself in one way
While actually being otherwise,
What one enjoys is obtained by theft
Like the gains of a cheating gambler.”
“One should speak as one would act;
Don’t speak as one wouldn’t act.
The wise clearly discern the person
Who does not practice what he preaches.”
The Blessed One replied:
“Not by mere speech nor solely by listening
Can one advance on this firm path of practice
By which the wise ones, the meditators,
Are released from the bondage of worldly enticements.
“Truly, the wise do not pretend,
For they have understood the way of the world.
By final knowledge the wise are quenched:
They have crossed over attachment to the world.”
The celestial being replied:
“A transgression overcame us, venerable sir, being so foolish, so stupid, so unskilful that we imagined we could assail the Blessed One with implication. Let the Blessed One pardon us for our transgression, for the sake of restraint in the future.”
Then the Blessed One displayed a contented smile. Those divinities, finding fault to an even greater extent, then rose up into the air. A celestial being then recited this verse to the Blessed One:
“If one does not grant pardon
To those who confess transgression,
Angry at heart, intent on hate,
One strongly harbors enmity.”
The Blessed One responded:
“If there was no transgression,
If here there was no going astray,
And if enmities were appeased,
Then one would be faultless here.”
The celestial being replied:
“For whom are there no transgressions?
For whom is there no going astray?
Who has not fallen into confusion?
And who is the wise one, ever mindful?”
The Blessed One replied:
“The Tathagata, the Enlightened One,
Full of compassion for all beings:
For him there are no transgressions,
For him there is no going astray;
He has not fallen into confusion,
And he is the wise one, ever mindful.”
“If one does not grant pardon
To those who confess transgression,
Angry at heart, intent on hate,
One strongly harbors enmity.
In that enmity I do not delight,
Thus I pardon your transgression.”
SN 1.38
On one occasion the Blessed One’s foot had been cut by a stone splinter. Severe pains assailed the Blessed One—bodily feelings that were painful, racking, sharp, piercing, harrowing, disagreeable. But the Blessed One endured them, mindful and clearly comprehending, without becoming distressed.
Inspired by this, a celestial being uttered this in the presence of the Blessed One: “See his concentration well developed and his mind well liberated—not bent forward and not bent back, and not blocked and checked by forceful suppression! If anyone would think such a one could be violated—such a naga of a man, such a lion of a man, such a thoroughbred of a man, such a chief bull of a man, such a beast of burden of a man, such a tamed man—what is that due to apart from lack of vision?”
The Buddha answered:
“Though priests learned in the five Vedas
Practice austerities for a hundred years,
Their minds are not rightly liberated:
Those of low nature do not reach the far shore (nirvana).”
“They founder in craving, bound to vows and rules,
Practicing rough austerity for a hundred years,
But their minds are not rightly liberated:
Those of low nature do not reach the far shore (nirvana).”
“There is no taming here for one fond of self-conceit,
Nor is there sagehood for the unconcentrated:
Though dwelling alone in the forest, heedless,
One cannot cross beyond the realm of Death (samsara).”
“Having abandoned self-conceit, well concentrated,
With lofty mind, everywhere released:
While dwelling alone in the forest, diligent,
One can cross beyond the realm of Death (samsara).”
SN 1.57
“What is it that produces a person?
What does he have that runs around?
What enters upon samsara?
What determines his destiny?”
“Craving is what produces a person;
His mind is what runs around;
A being enters upon samsara;
Karma determines his destiny.”
SN 1.62
“By what is the world led around?
By what is it dragged here and there?
What is the one thing that has
All under its control?”
“The world is led around by mind;
By mind it’s dragged here and there.
Mind is the one thing that has
All under its control.”
SN 1.63
“By what is the world led around?
By what is it dragged here and there?
What is the one thing that has
All under its control?”
“The world is led around by craving;
By craving it‘s dragged here and there.
Craving is the one thing that has
All under its control.”
SN 1.64
“By what is the world tightly fettered?
What is its means of traveling about?
What is it that one must forsake
In order to say, ‘Nirvana.’?”
“The world is tightly fettered by pleasure;
Thought is its means of traveling about.
Craving is what one must forsake
In order to say, ‘Nirvana’?”
SN 1.65
“By what is the world held in bondage?
What is its means of traveling about?
What is it that one must forsake
To cut off all bondage?”
“The world is held in bondage by delight;
Thought is its means of traveling about.
Craving is what one must forsake
To cut off all bondage.”
SN 1.66
“By what is the world afflicted?
By what is it enveloped?
By what dart has it been wounded?
With what is it always burning?”
“The world is afflicted with death,
Enveloped by old age;
Wounded by the dart of craving,
It is always burning with desire.”
SN 1.69
“By what is the world bound?
By the removal of what is it freed?
What is it that one must forsake
To cut off all bondage?”
“By attachment is the world bound;
By the removal of attachment it is freed.
Attachment is what one must forsake.
To cut off all bondage.”
SN 1.70
“In what has the world arisen?
In what does it form intimacy?
By clinging to what is the world
Harassed in regard to what?”
“In the senses has the world arisen;
In the senses it gives rise to intimacy;
By clinging to the six senses the world
Is harassed in regard to six.”
SN 1.71
“Having slain what does one sleep soundly?
Having slain what does one not sorrow?
What is the one thing,
O Buddha, whose killing you approve?”
“Having slain anger, one sleeps soundly;
Having slain anger, one does not sorrow;
The killing of anger, O celestial being,
With its poisoned root and honeyed tip:
This is the killing the noble ones praise,
For having slain that, one does not sorrow.”
Chapter 2 Selections
SN 2.2
“A monk should be a meditator,
One who is liberated in mind,
If he strives for enlightenment,
Leaning on that as his advantage,
Having known the world’s rise and fall,
Let him be lofty in mind and unattached.”
SN 2.14
“Unobstructed is the Blessed One’s knowledge and vision.
What is he like whom they call virtuous?
What is he like whom they call wise?
What is he like who has passed beyond suffering?
What is he like whom the divinities worship?”
“One virtuous, wise, of developed mind,
Concentrated, mindful, enjoying meditative absorption,
For whom all sorrows are gone, abandoned,
A blight-destroyer bearing his final body:
It is such a one that they call virtuous,
Such a one that they call wise,
Such a one has passed beyond suffering,
Such a one the divinities worship.”
SN 2.17
“Always frightened is this mind,
The mind is always agitated
About unarisen problems
And about arisen ones.
If there exists release from fear,
Please declare it to me.”
“Not apart from enlightenment and austerity,
Not apart from restraint of the sense faculties,
Not apart from relinquishing all worldly attachments,
Do I see any spiritual safety for living beings.”
SN 2.20
“Action, knowledge, righteousness,
Virtue, an excellent life of joy:
By this are mortals purified,
Not by clan or wealth.
Therefore a person who is wise,
Out of regard for his own good,
Should carefully examine the Dharma:
Thus he is purified in it.
He who truly achieves this is endowed with wisdom,
With virtue and with inner-peace.”
SN 2.27
A celestial being said,
“Time flies by, the nights swiftly pass;
The stages of life successively desert us.
Seeing clearly this danger in worldly life,
One should do deeds of spiritual depth that bring happiness.”
The Buddha countered:
“Time flies by, the nights swiftly pass;
The stages of life successively desert us.
Seeing clearly this danger in worldly life,
A seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait entirely.”
Chapter 3 Selections
SN 3.2
King Pasenadi asked the Buddha: “Venerable sir, how many things are there which, when they arise within a person, arise for his harm, suffering, and discomfort?”
The Buddha replied: “There are, great king, three things which, when they arise within a person, arise for his harm, suffering, and discomfort. What are the three? Greed, hatred, and delusion. These are the three things which, when they arise within a person, arise for his harm, suffering, and discomfort.”
“Greed, hatred, and delusion,
Arisen from within oneself,
And injure the person of evil mind
As a weak reed is destroyed by its own fruit.”
SN 3.5
King Pasenadi said to the Buddha, “Here, venerable sir, while I was alone in seclusion, a reflection arose in my mind thus: ‘Who now protect themselves and who leave themselves unprotected?’ Then, venerable sir, it occurred to me: ‘Those who engage in misconduct of body, speech, and mind leave themselves unprotected. Even though a company of elephant troops may protect them, or a company of cavalry, or a company of chariot troops, or a company of infantry, still they leave themselves unprotected. For what reason? Because that protection is external, not internal; therefore they leave themselves unprotected. But those who engage in good conduct of body, speech, and mind protect themselves. Even though no company of elephant troops protects them, nor a company of cavalry, nor a company of charioteers, nor a company of infantry, still they protect themselves. For what reason? Because that protection is internal, not external; therefore they protect themselves.’”
The Buddha replied:
“So it is, great king! So it is, great king!”
“Good is restraint with the body,
Restraint by speech is also good;
Good is restraint with the mind,
Restraint everywhere is good.
Conscientious, everywhere restrained,
Only then is one said to be protected.”
SN 3.7
King Pasenadi said to the Buddha: “Here, venerable sir, when I am sitting in the judgment hall, I see even affluent holy men, and affluent householders—rich, with great wealth and property, with abundant gold and silver, abundant treasures and commodities, abundant wealth and grain—speaking deliberate lies for the sake of sensory pleasures, with sensory pleasures also as the cause. Then, venerable sir, it occurred to me: ‘I’ve had enough now with the judgment hall!’”
The Buddha replied: “So it is, great king! So it is, great king! That will lead to their harm and suffering for a long time to come.
“Enamored with their pleasures and wealth,
Greedy, dazed by sensory pleasures,
They do not realize they have gone too far
Like fish that enter the net spread out.
Afterwards the bitter fruit is theirs,
For harmful indeed is the result.”
SN 3.17
King Pasenadi asked the Buddha: “Is there, venerable sir, one thing which secures both kinds of good, the good pertaining to the present life and that pertaining to the future life?”
The Buddha replied, “There is one thing, great king, which secures both kinds of good, the good pertaining to the present life and that pertaining to the future life.”
King Pasenadi said, “But what, venerable sir, is that one thing?”
The Buddha replied, “Diligence, great king. Just as the footprints of all living beings that walk fit into the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant’s footprint is declared to be their chief by reason of its size, so diligence is the one thing which secures both kinds of good, the good pertaining to the present life and that pertaining to the future life.
“For one who desires long life and health,
Beauty, heaven, and noble birth,
A variety of lofty delights
Following in succession,
The wise praise diligence
In doing deeds of merit.
The wise person who is diligent
Secures both kinds of good:
The good visible in this very life
And the good of the future life.
The steadfast one, by attaining the good,
Is called a person of wisdom.”
SN 3.20
“Without taking anything one must go,
Everything must be left behind.
But what one has done by body,
Or by speech or mind:
This is what is truly one’s own,
This one takes when one goes;
This is what follows one along
Like a shadow that never departs.
Therefore one should do what is good
As a collection for the future life.
Merits are the support for living beings
When they arise in the other world.”
Chapter 4 selections
SN 4.6
Mara the Evil One manifested himself in the form of a giant king serpent and approached the Blessed One. The Blessed One, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” said:
“He who resorts to empty huts for lodging—
He is the sage, self-controlled.
He should live there, having relinquished all:
That is proper for one like him.
“Though many creatures crawl about,
Many terrors, flies, serpents,
The great sage gone to his empty hut (to his knowledge of emptiness)
Stirs not a hair because of them.
“Though the sky might split, the earthquake,
And all creatures be stricken with terror,
Though men brandish a dart at their breast,
The enlightened take no shelter in acquisitions.”
Then Mara the Evil One … disappeared right there.
Commentary Note: "Empty hut” refers to the mind and body – the five aggregates of one’s lived experience – when properly understood as being devoid of self-existence, as being non-self and empty of an intrinsic essence. So the “empty hut” is the embodied existence of the person, but without the unnecessary addition of the idea that there is some intrinsic self-existent entity subsisting within the psychophysical assemblage.
SN 4.7
When the night was fading, the Blessed One, mindful and clearly comprehending, having attended to the idea of rising, laid down to sleep. Then Mara the Evil One approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:
“What, you sleep? Why do you sleep?
What’s this, you sleep like a wretch?
Thinking ‘The hut’s empty’ you sleep:
What’s this, you sleep when the sun has risen?”
The Buddha replied:
“Within him craving no longer lurks,
Entangling and binding, to lead him anywhere;
With the destruction of all acquisitions
The Awakened One sleeps:
Why should this concern you, Mara?”
Then Mara the Evil One … disappeared right there.
Commentary Note: See SN 4.6 for explanation of “empty huts.”
SN 4.15
Mara the Evil One approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:
“There is a snare moving in the sky,
Something mental which moves about
By means of which I’ll catch you yet:
You won’t escape me, ascetic!”
The Buddha replied:
“Forms, sounds, tastes, odors,
And delightful tactile objects—
Desire for these has vanished in me:
You’re defeated, End-maker!”
Then Mara the Evil One … disappeared right there.
SN 4.16
On one occasion the Blessed One was instructing, exhorting, inspiring, and gladdening the monks with a Dharma talk concerning the five aggregates subject to clinging. And those monks were listening to the Dharma with eager ears, attending to it as a matter of vital concern, applying their whole minds to it. Then it occurred to Mara the Evil One: “Let me approach the ascetic Gotama in order to confound them.”
But the Blessed One, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” addressed Mara the Evil One in verses:
“Form, feeling, and perception,
Consciousness, and formations—
‘I am not this, this isn’t mine,’
Thus one is detached from it.”
“Though they seek him everywhere,
Mara and his army do not find him:
The one thus detached, secure,
Who has gone beyond all fetters.”
Then Mara the Evil One … disappeared right there.
SN 4.17
On one occasion the Blessed One was instructing, exhorting, inspiring, and gladdening the monks with a Dharma talk concerning the six bases for contact. And those monks were listening to the Dharma with eager ears, attending to it as a matter of vital concern, applying their whole minds to it. Then it occurred to Mara the Evil One: “Let me approach the ascetic Gotama in order to confound them.”
But the Blessed One, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” addressed Mara the Evil One in verses:
“Forms, sounds, tastes, odors,
Tactiles, and all mental objects:
This is the terrible bait of the world
With which the world is infatuated.”
“But when he has transcended this,
The mindful disciple of the Buddha
Shines radiantly like the sun,
Having surmounted Mara’s realm. (samsara)”
Then Mara the Evil One … disappeared right there.
SN 4.21
Mara the Evil One manifested himself in the form of a holy man, with a large matted topknot, clad in an antelope hide, old, crooked like a roof bracket, wheezing, holding a staff of wood. He approached a group of monks and said to them: “You, sirs, have gone forth while young, lads with black hair, endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime of life, without having dallied with sensual pleasures. Enjoy human sensual pleasures, sirs; do not abandon what is directly visible in order to pursue what takes time.”
The Monks replied: “We have not abandoned what is directly visible, holy man, in order to pursue what takes time. We have abandoned what takes time in order to pursue what is directly visible. For the Blessed One has stated that sensual pleasures are time-consuming, full of suffering, full of despair, and the danger in them is still greater, while this Dharma is directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise.”
When this was said, Mara the Evil One shook his head, lolled his tongue, knit his brow into three furrows, and departed leaning on his staff. Then those monks approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and reported everything in full. The Blessed One said, “That was not a holy man, monks. That was Mara the Evil One, who had come in order to confound you.” The Buddha then spoke in verse:
“How could a person incline to sensual pleasures
Who has seen the source whence suffering springs?
Having known acquisition as a tie in the world,
A person should train for its removal.”
SN 4.24
Mara the Evil One approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:
“Is it because you are sunk in sorrow
That you meditate in the woods?
Because you’ve lost wealth or pine for it,
Or committed some crime in the village?
Why don’t you make friends with people?
Why don’t you form any intimate ties?”
The Blessed One responded:
“Having dug up entirely the root of sorrow,
Guiltless, I meditate free from sorrow.
Having cut off all greedy urge for existence,
I meditate taintless,
O kinsman of the negligent!”
Mara replied:
“That of which they say ‘It’s mine,’
And those who speak in terms of ‘mine’—
If your mind exists among these,
You won’t escape me, ascetic.”
The Blessed One spoke:
“That which they speak of is not mine,
I’m not one of those who speak of “mine”.
You should know thus, O Evil One:
Even my path you will not see.”
Mara:
“If you have discovered the path,
The secure way leading to the Deathless (Nirvana),
Be off and walk that path alone;
What’s the point of instructing others?”
The Blessed One:
“Those people going to the far shore (Nirvana)
Ask what lies beyond Death’s realm (Samsara).
When asked, I explain to them
The truth without acquisitions.”
Mara:
“Venerable sir, all those distortions, maneuvers, and contortions of mine have been cut off, broken, and smashed to bits by the Blessed One. Now, venerable sir, I am unable to approach the Blessed One again seeking to gain access to him.”
Chapter 5 Selections
SN 5.1
Mara the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the nun Alavika, desiring to make her fall away from seclusion, approached her and addressed her in verse:
“There is no escape in the world,
So what will you do with seclusion?
Enjoy the delights of sensual pleasure:
Don’t be remorseful later!”
Then the nun Alavika, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” replied to him in verses:
“There is an escape in the world
Which I have closely touched with wisdom.
O Evil One, kinsman of the negligent,
You do not know that state.
“Sensual pleasures are like swords and stakes;
The aggregates like their chopping block.
What you call sensual delight
Has become for me non-delight.”
Then Mara the Evil One, realizing, “The nun Alavika knows me,” sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.
SN 5.3
Mara the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the nun Kisagotami, desiring to make her fall away from concentration, approached her and addressed her in verse:
“Why now, when your son is dead,
Do you sit alone with tearful face?
Having entered the woods all alone,
Are you on the lookout for a man?”
Then the nun Kisagotami, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” replied to him in verses:
“I’ve gotten past the death of sons;
With this, the search for men has ended.
I do not sorrow, I do not weep,
Nor do I fear you, friend.”
“Delight everywhere has been destroyed,
The mass of darkness has been sundered.
Having conquered the army of Death (samsara),
I dwell without defiling taints.”
Then Mara the Evil One, realizing, “The nun Kisagotami knows me,” sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.
SN 5.9
“Mara the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the nun Sela, desiring to make her fall away from concentration, approached her and addressed her in verse:”
“By whom has this puppet been created?
Where is the maker of the puppet?
Where has the puppet arisen?
Where does the puppet cease?”
“Then the nun Sela, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” replied to him in verses:”
“This puppet is not made by itself,
Nor is this misery made by another.
It has come to be dependent on a cause;
With the cause’s breakup it will cease.”
“As when a seed is sown in a field
It grows depending on a pair of factors:
It requires both the soil’s nutrients
And a steady supply of moisture:”
“Just so the aggregates and elements,
And these six bases of sensory contact,
Have come to be dependent on a cause;
With the cause’s breakup they will cease.”
“Then Mara the Evil One, realizing, “The nun Sela knows me,” sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.”
SN 5.10
Mara the Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the nun Vajira, desiring to make her fall away from concentration, approached her and addressed her in verse:
“By whom has this being been created?
Where is the maker of the being?
Where has the being arisen?
Where does the being cease?”
Then the nun Vajira, having understood, “This is Mara the Evil One,” replied to him in verses:
“Why now do you assume ‘a being’?
Mara, is that your speculative view?
This is a heap of sheer formations:
Here no being is found.
“Just as, with an assemblage of parts,
The word ‘chariot’ is used,
So, when the aggregates exist,
There is the convention ‘a being.’
“It’s only suffering that comes to be,
Suffering that stands and falls away.
Nothing but suffering comes to be,
Nothing but suffering ceases.”
Then Mara the Evil One, realizing, “The nun Vajira knows me,” sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.
Chapter 6 Selections
SN 6.1
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at the foot of a goatherd’s Banyan Tree just after he had become fully enlightened. Then, while the Blessed One was alone in seclusion, a reflection arose in his mind thus:
“This Dharma that I have discovered is deep, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, not within the sphere of reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in clinging, takes delight in clinging, rejoices in clinging. For such a generation this state is hard to see, that is, specific conditionality, dependent origination. And this state too is hard to see, that is, the stilling of all delusional mental formations, the relinquishment of all egoistic appropriation, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nirvana. If I were to teach the Dharma and if others would not understand me, that would be wearisome for me, that would be troublesome.”
Thereupon these astounding verses, not heard before in the past, occurred to the Blessed One:
“Enough now with trying to teach
What I found with so much hardship;
This Dharma is not easily understood
By those oppressed by craving and hate.”
“Those fired by feverish desire, obscured by darkness,
Will never see this abstruse Dharma,
Deep, hard to see, subtle,
Going against the stream.”
As the Blessed One reflected thus, his mind inclined to living at ease, not to teaching the Dharma. Then Brahma Sahampati, having known with his own mind the reflection in the Blessed One’s mind, said:
“Alas, the world is lost! Alas, the world is to perish, in that the mind of the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One, inclines to living at ease, not to teaching the Dharma. Venerable sir, let the Blessed One teach the Dharma; let the Fortunate One teach the Dharma. There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dharma. There will be those who will understand the Dharma.”
“In the past there appeared among us
An impure Dharma devised by those still stained.
Throw open this door to the Deathless (nirvana)! Let them hear
The Dharma that the Stainless One discovered.”
“Just as one standing on a mountain peak
Might see below the people all around,
So, O wise one, universal eye,
Ascend the palace made of the Dharma.
Being yourself free from sorrow, behold the people
Submerged in sorrow, oppressed by birth and decay.
“Rise up, O hero, victor in battle!
O caravan leader, debt-free one, wander in the world.
Teach the Dharma, O Blessed One:
There will be those who will understand.”
Then the Blessed One, having understood Brahma’s request, out of compassion for beings surveyed the world with the eye of a Buddha. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses might be born in the water, grow up in the water, and thrive while submerged in the water, without rising up from the water; some lotuses might be born in the water, grow up in the water, and stand at an even level with the water; some lotuses might be born in the water and grow up in the water, but would rise up from the water and stand without being soiled by the water—so too, surveying the world with the eye of a Buddha, the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes and with much dust in their eyes, with keen faculties and with dull faculties, with good qualities and with bad qualities, easy to teach and hard to teach, and a few who dwelt seeing blame and fear in the other world.
Having seen this, he answered Brahma Sahampati in verse:
“Open to them are the doors to the Deathless (Nirvana):
Let those who have ears release faith.
Foreseeing trouble, O Brahma, I did not speak
The refined, sublime Dharma among human beings.”
Then Brahma Sahampati, thinking, “The Blessed One has given his consent to my request regarding the teaching of the Dharma,” paid homage to the Blessed One and disappeared right there.
SN 6.15
On the occasion of his final Nirvana (enlightened death), the Blessed One addressed the monks thus:
“Now I address you, monks:
All dependently originated phenomena are impermanent,
Strive to attain ultimate liberation by diligence.”
This was the last utterance of the Buddha.
Then the Blessed One ascended through the four jhanas (states of deep meditative absorption). Having emerged from the fourth jhana, he then ascended through the four formless attainments of consciousness, until he attained the cessation of all perception and feeling. Immediately after this the Blessed One attained his final Nirvana.
When the Blessed One attained final Nirvana, Brahma Sahampati recited this verse:
“All beings in the world
Will finally lay the body down,
Since such a one as the Teacher,
The peerless person in the world,
The Tathagata endowed with the powers,
The Buddha, has attained final Nirvana.”
“Impermanent indeed are conditional phenomena;
Their nature is to arise and vanish.
Having arisen, they cease:
Their appeasement is blissful.”
“With unshrinking mind
He endured the pain;
Like the quenching of a lamp
Was the deliverance of the mind.”
Chapter 7 Selections
SN 7.11
The holy man Kasi Bharadvaja saw the Blessed One begging for alms and said to him:
“Recluse, I plow and sow, and when I have plowed and sown I eat. You too, ascetic, ought to plow and sow; then, when you have plowed and sown, you will eat.”
The Buddha replied, saying, “I too plow and sow, holy man, and when I have plowed and sown I eat.”
Kasi Bharadvaja replied:
“But we do not see Master Gotama’s yoke or plow.”
“You claim to be a man who works the plow,
But I do not see your plowing.
If you’re a plowman, answer me:
How should we understand your plowing?”
The Buddha:
“Faith is the seed, austerity the rain,
Wisdom my yoke and plow;
Shame is the pole, mind the yoke-tie,
Mindfulness my plowshare and goad.
“Guarded in body, guarded in speech,
Controlled in my appetite for food,
I use truth as my weeding-hook,
And gentleness as my unyoking.
“Energy is my beast of burden,
Carrying me to security from bondage.
It goes ahead without stopping
To where, having gone, one does not sorrow.
“In such a way this plowing is done
Which has the Deathless (Nirvana) as its fruit.
Having finished this work of plowing,
One is released from all suffering.”
When this was said, the holy man Kasi Bharadvaja said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent, Master Gotama! The Dharma has been made clear in many ways by Master Gotama, as though he were turning upright what had been turned upside down, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyesight to see forms. I go for refuge to Master Gotama, and to the Dharma, and to the monk Sangha. Let Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who from today has gone for refuge for life.”
SN 7.18
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling in a certain woodland thicket. Now on that occasion a number of priestling boys, students of a certain clan’s holy man, approached. They saw the Blessed One sitting with his legs folded crosswise, holding his body erect, having set up mindfulness in front of him. They said to him:
“Having entered the empty, desolate forest,
Deep in the woods where many terrors lurk,
With a motionless body, steady, lovely,
How you meditate, monk, so beautifully!”
“In the forest where no song or music sounds,
A solitary sage has resorted to the woods!
This strikes me as a wonder—that you dwell
With joyful mind alone in the woods.
“I suppose you desire the supreme triple heaven,
The company of the world’s divine lord.
Therefore you resort to the desolate forest:
You practice penance here for attaining holiness.ʺ
The Blessed One replied:
“Whatever be the many desires and delights
That are always attached to the manifold elements,
The longings sprung from the root of unknowing:
All I have demolished along with their root.”
“I am desireless, unattached, disengaged;
My vision of all things has been purified.
Having attained the auspicious—supreme enlightenment—
Self-confident, I meditate alone.”
Chapter 8 Selections
SN 8.2
On one occasion dissatisfaction had arisen in the Venerable Vangisa; lust had infested his mind. Then it occurred to him: “It is a loss for me indeed, it is no gain for me! It is a mishap for me indeed, it is not well gained by me, that dissatisfaction has arisen in me, that lust has infested my mind. How could anyone else dispel my dissatisfaction and arouse delight? Let me dispel my own dissatisfaction and arouse delight by myself.”
Then the Venerable Vangisa, having dispelled his own dissatisfaction and aroused delight by himself, on that occasion recited these verses:
“Having abandoned discontent and delight
And worldly thoughts entirely,
One should not nurture lust towards anything;
The lustless one, without delight—
He is indeed a true disciple.
“Whatever exists here on earth and in space,
Comprised by form, included in the world—
Everything impermanent decays;
The sages prosper having pierced this truth.
“People are tied to their appropriations,
To what is seen, heard, sensed, and felt;
Dispel desire for this, be unstirred:
They call him a sage
Who clings to nothing here.”
“Then those caught in wrong views,
Led by their own thoughts—
There are many such among the people
Who have settled on wrong doctrine:
One who would not join their faction anywhere,
Nor utter corrupt speech—he is a true disciple.
“Proficient, long trained in concentration,
Honest, discreet, without craving or longing,
The sage has attained the peaceful state,
Depending on which he bides his time
Fully quenched within himself.”
SN 8.4
On one occasion dissatisfaction had arisen in the Venerable Vangisa; lust had infested his mind. Then the Venerable Vangisa addressed his companion, the Venerable Ananda, in verse:
“I am burning with sensual craving,
My mind is engulfed by fire.
Please tell me how to extinguish it,
Out of compassion, O wise one.”
The Venerable Ananda replied:
“It is through an inversion of perception
That your mind is engulfed by fire.
Turn away from the idea of beauty
Provocative of sensual lust.”
“See phenomena as alien,
As suffering, not as self.
Extinguish the great fire of lust;
Don’t burn up again and again.”
“Develop the mind on foulness,
One-pointed, well concentrated;
Apply your mindfulness to the body,
Be engrossed in revulsion.”
“Develop meditation on non-conceptualization,
And discard the tendency to self-conceit.
Then, by breaking through egoism,
You will be one who fares at peace.”
Chapter 9 Selections
SN 9.2
On one occasion a certain monk was dwelling in a certain woodland thicket. Now on that occasion when that monk had gone for his day’s abiding he fell asleep. Then the magical being that inhabited that woodland thicket, having compassion for that monk, desiring his good, desiring to stir up a sense of urgency in him, approached him and addressed him in verses:
“Get up, monk, why lie down?
What need do you have for sleep?
What slumber can there be for one afflicted,
Stricken, pierced by the dart of confusion?
“Nurture in yourself that faith
With which you left behind the home life
And went forth into homelessness:
Don’t come under sloth’s control.”
The monk replied:
“Sensual pleasures are impermanent, unstable,
Though the dullard is enthralled with them.
When he’s free, detached among those bound,
Why trouble one gone forth?
“When, by the removal of desire and lust
And the transcendence of ignorance,
That knowledge has been cleansed,
Why trouble one gone forth?
“When, by breaking ignorance with knowledge
And by destruction of the fetters,
He is sorrowless, beyond despair,
Why trouble one gone forth?
“When he is energetic and resolute,
Always firm in his exertion,
Aspiring to attain Nirvana,
Why trouble one gone forth?”
SN 9.11
On one occasion a certain monk was dwelling in a certain woodland thicket. Now on that occasion, when that monk had gone for the day’s abiding, he kept on thinking evil unwholesome thoughts, that is, thoughts of sensuality, ill will, and harming. Then the magical being that inhabited that woodland thicket, having compassion for that monk, desiring his good, desiring to stir up a sense of urgency in him, approached him and addressed him in verses:
“Because of attending carelessly,
You, sir, are eaten by your thoughts.
Having relinquished the careless way,
You should reflect carefully.”
“By basing your thoughts on the Teacher,
On Dharma, Sangha, and your own virtues,
You will surely attain to gladness,
And rapture and happiness as well.
Then when you are suffused with gladness,
You’ll make an end to suffering.”
Then that monk, stirred up by that young magical being, acquired a sense of spirited urgency.
Chapter 10 Selections
SN 10.3
On one occasion the wrathful spirits Khara and Suciloma were passing by the Blessed One and stopped to ask him the following:
“What is the source of lust and hatred?
Whence spring discontent, delight, and terror?
Having arisen from what do the mind’s thoughts
Toss one around as boys toss around a ball?”
The Blessed One replied:
“Lust and hatred have their source here in worldly existence;
From this springs discontent, delight, and terror;
Having arisen here, the mind’s thoughts
Toss one around as boys toss around a ball.”
“Worldy thoughts spring from affection, arise from oneself,
Like the trunk-born shoots of the banyan tree;
Manifold, clinging to sensual pleasures,
Like a vining creeper stretched across the woods.”
“Those who understand their source,
They dispel it—listen, wrathful spirits!—
They cross this flood (samsara) so hard to cross,
Uncrossed before, to bring an end to renewed existence.”
SN 10.12
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Alavi, the haunt of the wrathful spirit Alavaka, who approached the Blessed One and said to him: “Get out, ascetic!”
“All right, friend,” the Blessed One said, and he went out.
“Come in, ascetic.”
“All right, friend,” the Blessed One said, and he went in.
A second time the wrathful spirit Alavaka said to the Blessed One: “Get out, ascetic!”
The Buddha said, “I won’t go out, friend. Do whatever you have to do.”
The wrathful spirit said, “I’ll ask you a question, ascetic.”
What here is a man’s best treasure?
What practiced well brings happiness?
What is really the sweetest of tastes?
How lives the one who they say lives best?”
The Blessed One replied:
“Faith is here a man’s best treasure;
Dharma practiced well brings happiness;
Truth is really the sweetest of tastes;
One living by wisdom they say lives best.”
Alavaka asked:
“How does one cross over the flood (of samsara)?
How does one cross the rugged sea (of worldly life)?
How does one overcome suffering?
How is one purified?”
The Blessed One replied:
“By faith one crosses over the flood,
By diligence, the rugged sea.
By energy one overcomes suffering,
By wisdom one is purified.”
Alavaka asked:
“How does one gain wisdom?
How does one find wealth?
How does one achieve acclaim?
How bind friends to oneself?
When passing from this world to the next,
How does one not sorrow?”
The Blessed One answered:
“Placing faith in the Dharma of the arahants
For the attainment of Nirvana,
From desire to learn one gains wisdom
If one is diligent and astute.”
“Doing what is proper, dutiful,
One with initiative finds wealth.
By truthfulness one wins acclaim;
Giving, one binds friends.
That is how one does not sorrow
When passing from this world to the next.
“The faithful seeker of the household life
In whom dwell these four qualities—
Truth, Dharma, steadfastness, generosity—
Does not sorrow when he passes on.
“Come now, ask others as well,
The many ascetics and holy men,
Whether there is found here anything better
Than truth, self-control, generosity, and patience.”
Chapter 11 Selections
SN 11.19
Maatali the charioteer addressed Sakka, lord of the celestial beings, in verse:
“‘Both celestials and human beings
Humbly worship you.
So who, O Sakka, is it
To whom you bow in worship?”
Sakka replied:
“The Perfectly Enlightened One here
In this world with its celestials,
The Teacher of perfect name:
He is the one whom I worship.”
“Those for whom lust and hatred
And ignorance have been expunged,
The arahants with fetters destroyed:
These are the ones whom I worship.”
“‘The trainees who delight in dismantling,
Who diligently pursue the training
For the removal of lust and hatred,
For transcending ignorance:
These are the ones whom I worship.”
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