Saɱyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
35. Saḷāyatana Saɱyutta
§ IV: Paññāsaka Catuttha
3. Samudda Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
4. The Book Called the Saḷāyatana-Vagga
Containing Kindred Sayings on the 'Six-Fold Sphere' of Sense and Other Subjects
35. Kindred Sayings the Sixfold Sphere of Sense
§ IV: The 'Fourth Fifty' Suttas
3. The Chapter on the Ocean
Sutta 189
Bālisik'Opama Suttaɱ
The Fisherman
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:
Once the Exalted One addressed the brethren, saying:
"Brethren."
"Lord," responded those brethren to the Exalted One.
The Exalted One thus spake:[ed1]
"Just as a fisherman, Brethren,
casts a baited hook
in some deep pool of water,
and some fish,
greedy for the bait,[1]
gulps it down,
and thus, Brethren, that fish
that gulps down the fisherman's hook
comes by misfortune,
comes to destruction,
becomes subject to the pleasure of the fisherman, -
even so, Brethren,
there are these six hooks in the world,
to the sorrow of beings,
to the harm of living things.
What six?
There are, Brethren,
objects cognizable by the eye,
objects desirable,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight therein,
welcomes them,
persists in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'hook-swallower,'
'come by misfortune from Māra,'
'come to destruction,'
'become subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
sounds cognizable by the ear,
sounds desirable,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight therein,
welcomes them,
persists in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'hook-swallower,'
'come by misfortune from Māra,'
'come to destruction,'
'become subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
scents cognizable by the nose,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight therein,
welcomes them,
persists in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'hook-swallower,'
'come by misfortune from Māra,'
'come to destruction,'
'become subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
savours cognizable by the tongue,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight therein,
welcomes them,
persists in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'hook-swallower,'
'come by misfortune from Māra,'
'come to destruction,'
'become subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
tangibles cognizable by the body,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight therein,
welcomes them,
persists in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'hook-swallower,'
'come by misfortune from Māra,'
'come to destruction,'
'become subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
mind-states cognizable by the mind,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight therein,
welcomes them,
persists in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'hook-swallower,'
'come by misfortune from Māra,'
'come to destruction,'
'become subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
§
There are, Brethren,
objects cognizable by the eye,
objects desirable,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight not therein,
welcomes them not,
persists not in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'one that has not taken Māra's hook,'
'hook-breaker,'
hook-shatterer,'
'one that is scatheless,'
'not subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
sounds cognizable by the ear,
sounds desirable,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight not therein,
welcomes them not,
persists not in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'one that has not taken Māra's hook,'
'hook-breaker,'
hook-shatterer,'
'one that is scatheless,'
'not subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
scents cognizable by the nose,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight not therein,
welcomes them not,
persists not in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'one that has not taken Māra's hook,'
'hook-breaker,'
hook-shatterer,'
'one that is scatheless,'
'not subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
savours cognizable by the tongue,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight not therein,
welcomes them not,
persists not in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'one that has not taken Māra's hook,'
'hook-breaker,'
hook-shatterer,'
'one that is scatheless,'
'not subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
tangibles cognizable by the body,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight not therein,
welcomes them not,
persists not in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'one that has not taken Māra's hook,'
'hook-breaker,'
hook-shatterer,'
'one that is scatheless,'
'not subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'
■
There are, Brethren,
mind-states cognizable by the mind,
pleasant,
delightful
and dear,
passion-fraught,
inciting to lust.
If a brother delight not therein,
welcomes them not,
persists not in clinging to them,
such an one is called
'one that has not taken Māra's hook,'
'hook-breaker,'
hook-shatterer,'
'one that is scatheless,'
'not subject to the pleasure of the Evil One.'"
[1] Āmisa-cakkhu = kilesa-lola (Comy. on. Jāt. v, 91). Lit. 'with an eye for flesh.' Cf. K.S. ii, 153.
[ed1] The PTS Pali and Woodward's translation both include the below in this sutta, but the internal reference is clearly to the ocean of the previous sutta.
He in whom lust, malice and ignorance are cast off, - he hath passed over this ocean, with its sharks and demons, with its fearsome waves impassable.
Bond-free, escaped from Death and without base,
Transcending sorrow, to become no more,
Evanishèd, incomparable one -
He hath befooled the King of Death, I say.
