Sutta Nipāta
5
Sutta 7. Nanda-manava-puccha Sutta
Nanda's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.
Nanda:
There are in the world
sages, they say
-- in what way?
Do they call one a sage
for possessing knowledge
or possessing a way of life?
The Buddha:
Not on account of his views,
learning,
or knowledge
do the skilled here, Nanda,
call one a sage.
Those who live
disarmed,
undesiring,
untroubled:
those, I say, are called sages.
Nanda:
Whatever priests and contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views and learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts and practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
have they, dear sir, living there in that way,
crossed over birth and aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
The Buddha:
Whatever priests and contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views and learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts and practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
none of them, living there in that way,
I tell you, have crossed over birth and aging.
Nanda:
Whatever priests and contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views and learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts and practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
if, sage, as you say,
they've not crossed over the flood,
then who in the world
of beings divine and human
has crossed over birth and aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
The Buddha:
I don't say that all priests and contemplatives
are shrouded in birth and aging.
Those here who've abandoned
what's seen, heard, and sensed,
precepts and practices [1]
-- all --
who've abandoned their manifold ways
-- again, all --
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
they are the ones, I tell you,
who've crossed over the flood.
Nanda:
I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer's words
well-expounded, without acquisition.
Those here who've abandoned
what's seen, heard, and sensed,
precepts and practices
-- all --
who've abandoned their manifold ways
-- again, all --
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
I, too, say they've crossed over the flood.
[1] For a discussion of the abandoning of precepts and practices, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, Chapters 3 and 4.
