Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
47. Sati-Paṭṭhāna Saṃyutta
3. Sīla-ṭ-Ṭhiti Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
5. The Great Chapter
47. Kindred Sayings on the Stations of Mindfulness
3. Habit and Permanence
Sutta 26
Padesa Suttaṃ
Partial
Translated by F. L. Woodward
Copyright The Pali Text Society
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On a certain occasion
the venerable Sāriputta
and the venerable Moggallāna the Great
and the venerable Anuruddha
were staying at Sāketa[1] in Cactus Grove.
Now the venerable Sāriputta,
together with Moggallāna the Great,
rising from their solitude at eventide,
went to visit the venerable Anuruddha,
and on coming to him
greeted him courteously,
and, after the exchange of greetings and courtesies,
sat down at one side.
So seated
the venerable Sāriputta said this
to the venerable Anuruddha:
"'A pupil!
A pupil!'
is the saying, friend Anuruddha.
Pray, friend Anuruddha,
how far is this term applicable?"
[154] "By the fact of having partially[2] cultivated
the four stations of mindfulness, friend,
one is called 'a pupil.'
What are the four?
Herein, friend, a monk abides in body contemplating body
(as transient),
ardent,
composed
and mindful,
having restrained the dejection in the world
arising from coveting.
He dwells as regards feelings contemplating feelings
(as transient),
ardent,
composed
and mindful,
having restrained the dejection in the world
arising from coveting.
He dwells as regards mind contemplating mind
(as transient),
ardent,
composed
and mindful,
having restrained the dejection in the world
arising from coveting.
He dwells as regards mind-states contemplating mind-states
(as transient),
ardent,
composed
and mindful,
having restrained the dejection in the world
arising from coveting.
It is by the partial cultivation
of these four stations of mindfulness, friend,
that one is a pupil."
[1] In Kosala. Cf. Buddhist India, p. 40. 'The present city of Ayodhyā stands on a corner of the site of what was once the great city, twenty-four miles in circumference, of Sāketa, about 100 miles N.N.E. of Benares.' For Cactus Grove, cf. infra on p. 298 of text.
[2] Padesaṇ, as opposite to samattaṃ below. Cf. infra 201, 255-6, 457, padesa-kāriṇ (affecting a limited range) opposite to paripūra-kāriṇ. Asḷ. 37 = Expos. 49. Comy. on S. iv, 192, sappadesa and nippadesa. Here it is evidently an adverb like samattaṇ,* 'regional (incomplete) knowledge.' Comy. MSS. have paresaṇ {?), and def. thus: sekho, 'one who strives for the three paths and fruits, but has not attained the fourth. Thus anyone on the path, but not Arahant, is sekho.
