Saɱyutta Nikāya
3. Khandha Vagga
22. Khandha Saɱyutta
10. Puppha Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
3. The Book Called the Khandhā-Vagga
Containing Kindred Sayings on the Elements of Sensory Existence and other Subjects
22. Kindred Sayings on Elements
10. On Flowers
Sutta 95
Pheṇa-Piṇḍ'Ūpama Suttaɱ
Foam
Translated by F. L. Woodward
Edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved
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[1][than][bodh] Thus have I heard:
On a certain occasion the Exalted One was staying at Ayojjhāya,[1]
on the bank of the nver Ganges.
And there the Exalted One addressed the brethren, saying:
"Brethren!"
"Master!" responded those brethren.
The Exalted One said:
"Just as if, brethren,
this river Ganges should carry down
a huge lump of foam,
and a keen-sighted man should see it,
observe it
and look close into its nature.[2]
So seeing it,
ob- [119] serving it
and looking close into its nature,
he would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.[3]
What essence, brethren,
could there be
in a lump of foam?[4]
Even so, brethren, whatsoever body,
be it past,
future
or present,
inward or outward,
subtle or gross,
low or high,
far or near,
which a brother sees,
observes
and looks close into its nature,
he so seeing,
observing
and looking into the nature of it,
would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.
What essence, brethren,
could there be
in a body?
■
Suppose, brethren, in autumn time
when the sky god rains down big drops,
a bubble rises on the water
and straightway bursts,
and a keen-sighted man should see it,
observe it,
look close into its nature.
So seeing it,
observing it
and looking close into its nature,
he would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.
What essence, brethren,
could there be
in a bubble on the water?
Even so, brethren, whatsoever feeling,
be it past,
future
or present,
inward or outward,
subtle or gross,
low or high,
far or near,
which a brother sees,
observes
and looks close into its nature,
he so seeing,
observing
and looking into the nature of it,
would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.
What essence, brethren,
could there be
in feeling?
■
Just as if, brethren,
in the last month of the dry season
at high noontide
there should be a mirage,
and a keen-sighted man should see it,
observe it,
look close into its nature.
So seeing it,
observing it
and looking close into its nature,
he would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.
What essence, brethren,
could there be
in a mirage?
Even so, brethren, whatsoever perception,
be it past,
future
or present,
inward or outward,
subtle or gross,
low or high,
far or near,
which a brother sees,
observes
and looks close into its nature,
he so seeing,
observing
and looking into the nature of it,
would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.
What essence, brethren,
could there be
in perception?
■
Again, brethren, suppose a man should roam about
in need of heart of wood,[5]
searching for heart of wood,
looking for heart of wood,
and taking a sharp axe
should enter a forest.
There he sees a mighty plantain-trunk,[6]
straight up,
new grown,
of towering height.[7]
He cuts it down at the root.
[120] Having cut it down at the root,
he chops it off at the top.
Having chopped it off at the top,
he peels off the outer skin.[8]
When he peels off the outer skin,
he finds no pith[9] inside,
much less does he find heart of wood.
Then suppose a keen-sighted man sees it,
observes it,
looks into the nature of it.
So seeing it,
observing it
and looking close into its nature,
he would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.
What essence, brethren, could there be
in a plantain-trunk?
Even so, brethren, whatsoever activities,
be they past,
future
or present,
inward or outward,
subtle or gross,
low or high,
far or near,
which a brother sees,
observes
and looks close into their nature,
he so seeing,
observing
and looking into the nature of them,
would find them empty,
he would find them unsubstantial,
he would find them without essence.
What essence, brethren,
could there be
in the activities?
■
Again, brethren, suppose a juggler
or a juggler's apprentice
should spread a glamour[10] on the high road,
and a keen-sighted man should see it,
observe it,
look close into the nature of it.
So seeing it,
observing it
and looking close into its nature,
he would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.
What essence, brethren, could there be
in a glamour?
Even so, brethren, whatsoever consciousness,
be it past,
future
or present,
inward or outward,
subtle or gross,
low or high,
far or near,
which a brother sees,
observes
and looks close into its nature,
he so seeing,
observing
and looking into the nature of it,
would find it empty,
he would find it unsubstantial,
he would find it without essence.
What essence, brethren,
could there be in consciousness?
Wherefore, brethren, he who thus sees
conceives disgust at body,
at feeling,
at perception,
at the activities,
at consciousness.
Being disgusted
he is repelled by them;
by that repulsion he is released;
by that release he is set free;
knowledge arises:
in the freed man is the freed thing,
and he knows:
'Destroyed is rebirth;
lived is the righteous life;
done is the task;
for life in these conditions
there is no hereafter.'"
Thus spake the Exalted One.
When the Well-Farer had thus spoken,
the Teacher added this further:
"Like to a ball of foam this body is:
Like to a bubble blown the feelings are:
[121] Like to a mirage unsubstantial
Perception: pithless as a plantain-trunk
The activities: a phantom, consciousness.
Thus hath declared the Kinsman of the Sun.[11]
However one doth contemplate (this mass)
And thoroughly investigate its form, -
To him, so seeing, empty, void it is.
Beginning with this body first of all: -
By his rich subtle wisdom[12] it is shown.
'Reft of three things, life, heat and consciousness,
Behold it thrown aside. When 'tis cast off,
Discarded there it lies, a senseless thing,[13]
Mere food for others. Such its lineage.[14]
A babbling fantasy, a murderer:[15]
Such is its name. No essence here is seen.
Thus should a brother, with an eager will.
Regard this mass. Mindful and self-possessed
By day, yea, day and night, let him cast off
All fetters, make a refuge of himself,
And act as if his head were all ablaze,[16] Aspiring for the state that changeth not.[17]
[1] Comy. says the townsfolk built a residence for him here.
[2] Yoniso upaparikkheyya. Comy. 'causally investigate.'
[3] Sāro: see next page, n 2. [Ed. n.9]
[4] Sāro. Cf. Sisters, p. 167, 'froth without a soul.'
[5] Cf. M. i, 111: 233 (trans. Sīlācāra, ii, 43), S. iv, 94.
[6] A plantain trunk is not more than about ten feet high. The exaggeration is probably intentional. (Or is kadali not a plantain? - (original Ed.)
[7] Text akukkajāta. Read akkukukā, with Pali Dict. and S. iv, 167.
[8] Pattavaṭṭi.
[9] Phegguṅ, soft outer wood. Sāro, heart of wood.
[10] Māyaṅ vidhaṅseyya.
[11] Tracing his lineage back to the Solar Race. Cf. S. i, 186, 192.
[12] Bhūripaññena. Comy. 'Sanha-vipula-cittatā paññena,' 'Subtle and many-sided.' Cf. S. iv, 205; B. Pay. Ethics, § 16.
[13] Cf. Dhammapada, 41, 'like a senseless log.'
[14] Santāno. Perhaps the only occurrence in the Pitakas of this term much used in later Buddhism.
[15] Vadhako. See supra, § 79 [Khajjanīya] and p. 113. Also S. iv, 172-5. Comy. says the fivefold mass of aggregates mutually destroy each other, e.g, the break-up of body causcs the destruction of the other skandhas and vice versa.
[16] Āditta-sīso. Cf. Thag. 39: Brethren, p. 44. 'As one whose hair and torban are afflame' - i.e., instant action is required. Cf. Thig. 493: Sisters, p. 172, v, 7.
[17] Accutaṅ padaṅ: lit. 'un-deceasing state.'
