Crossing over the Flood

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Provenance, terms and conditons

Translator's note:

This discourse opens the Samyutta Nikaya with a paradox. The Commentary informs us that the Buddha teaches the devatā in terms of the paradox in order to subdue her pride. To give this paradox some context, you might want to read other passages from the Canon that discuss right effort.

[1.1][pts][bodh][olds] I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery.

Then a certain devatā,
in the far extreme of the night,
her extreme radiance lighting up
the entirety of Jeta's Grove,
went to the Blessed One.
On arrival, having bowed down to him,
she stood to one side.
As she was standing there,
she said to him,

"Tell me, dear sir,
how you crossed over the flood."

"I crossed over the flood
without pushing forward,
without staying in place (or: unestablished)."^[1]

"But how, dear sir, did you cross over the flood without pushing forward, without staying in place?"

"When I pushed forward, I was whirled about. When I stayed in place, I sank. And so I crossed over the flood without pushing forward, without staying in place."

[The devatā:] At long last I see
a brahman, totally unbound,
who     without pushing forward,
    without staying in place,
has crossed        over
    the entanglements
    of the world.

That is what the devatā said. The Teacher approved. Realizing that "The Teacher has approved of me," she bowed down to him, circumambulated him — keeping him to her right — and then vanished right there.

^[1]On the term "unestablished," see Ud VIII.1. Related references are in SN XII.38 and SN XII.64.

Saṃyutta Nikāya I. Sagātha Vagga 1. Devatā-Saṃyutta I. Naḷa-Vagga

Sutta 1

Ogha-Tarana Suttaṃ

Crossing over the Flood

Translator's note:

Saṃyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
1. Devatā-Saṃyutta
I. Naḷa-Vagga