Aṇguttara-Nikāya
III. Tika Nipāta
IV. Devadūta Vagga
Sutta 38-39
Sukhumāla Suttaṃ
Refinement
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Proofed against and modified in accordance with the revised edition at dhammatalks.org
Provenance, terms and conditons
Translator's note:
The Pali Text Society editions treat this discourse as two discourses — III.38 and III.39 — divided at the "§". Asian editions treat it as one, numbered III.39. The autobiographical verse at the end of the second half — which is identical with the verse concluding AN 5 57 — fits neatly with the autobiographical first half of the discourse, suggesting that the two halves were meant to go together.
[1][pts][bodh] "Monks, I lived in refinement,
utmost refinement,
total refinement.
My father even had lotus ponds made in our palace:
one where red-lotuses bloomed,
one where white lotuses bloomed,
one where blue lotuses bloomed,
all for my sake.
I used no sandalwood that was not from Vārāṇasī.
My turban was from Vārāṇasī,
as were my tunic,
my lower garments,
and my outer cloak.
A white sunshade was held over me day and night
to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, and dew.
"I had three palaces:
one for the cold season,
one for the hot season,
one for the rainy season.
During the four months of the rainy season
I was entertained in the rainy-season palace
by minstrels without a single man among them,
and I did not once come down from the palace.
Whereas the servants, workers, and retainers in other people's homes
are fed meals of lentil soup and broken rice,
in my father's home the servants, workers, and retainers
were fed wheat, rice, and meat.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune,
such total refinement,
the thought occurred to me:
'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person,
himself subject to aging,
not beyond aging,
sees another who is aged,
he is horrified, humiliated, and disgusted,
oblivious to himself
that he too is subject to aging,
not beyond aging.
If I
— who am subject to aging,
not beyond aging —
were to be horrified, humiliated, and disgusted
on seeing another person who is aged,
that would not be fitting for me.'
As I noticed this,
the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth
entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune,
such total refinement,
the thought occurred to me:
'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person,
himself subject to illness, not beyond illness,
sees another who is ill,
he is horrified, humiliated, and disgusted,
oblivious to himself
that he too is subject to illness,
not beyond illness.
And if I
— who am subject to illness,
not beyond illness —
were to be horrified, humiliated, and disgusted
on seeing another person who is ill,
that would not be fitting for me.'
As I noticed this,
the healthy person's intoxication with health
entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune,
such total refinement,
the thought occurred to me:
'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person,
himself subject to death,
not beyond death,
sees another who is dead,
he is horrified, humiliated, and disgusted,
oblivious to himself
that he too is subject to death,
not beyond death.
And if I
— who am subject to death,
not beyond death —
were to be horrified, humiliated, and disgusted
on seeing another person who is dead,
that would not be fitting for me.'
As I noticed this,
the living person's intoxication with life
entirely dropped away.
§
"Monks, there are these three forms of intoxication.
Which three?
Intoxication with youth,
intoxication with health,
intoxication with life.
"Drunk with the intoxication of youth,
an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person
engages in bodily misconduct,
verbal misconduct,
and mental misconduct.
Having engaged in bodily misconduct,
verbal misconduct,
and mental misconduct, he
— on the break-up of the body, after death —
reappears in the plane of deprivation,
the bad destination,
the lower realms,
in hell.
"Drunk with the intoxication of health,
an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person
engages in bodily misconduct,
verbal misconduct,
and mental misconduct.
Having engaged in bodily misconduct,
verbal misconduct,
and mental misconduct, he
— on the break-up of the body, after death —
reappears in the plane of deprivation,
the bad destination,
the lower realms,
in hell.
"Drunk with the intoxication of life,
an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person
engages in bodily misconduct,
verbal misconduct,
and mental misconduct.
Having engaged in bodily misconduct,
verbal misconduct,
and mental misconduct, he
— on the break-up of the body, after death —
reappears in the plane of deprivation,
the bad destination,
the lower realms,
in hell.
"Drunk with the intoxication of youth,
a monk leaves the training
and returns to the lower life.
Drunk with the intoxication of health,
a monk leaves the training
and returns to the lower life.
Drunk with the intoxication of life,
a monk leaves the training
and returns to the lower life."
'Subject to birth, subject to aging,
subject to death,
run-of-the-mill people
are repelled by those who suffer
from that to which they are subject.
And if I were to be repelled
by beings subject to these things,
it would not be fitting for me,
living as I do.'
As I maintained this attitude —
knowing the Dhamma
without acquisitions —
I overcame all intoxication
with health, youth, and life
as one who sees
renunciation as rest.
For me, energy arose,
Unbinding was clearly seen.
There's now no way
I could partake of sensual pleasures.
Having followed the holy life,
I will not return.
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