Pāḷi English Dictionary
Sutta SearchAṅguttara Nikāya
IX. Navaka Nipāta
I. Sambodha Vagga
The Book of Nines
Sutta 3
Meghiya Suttaṃ
Meghiya
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
Once upon a time, The Lucky Man,
Quagmire-town revisiting,
Quagmire-mountain.
There then Old Man Meghiya,
who was at that time,
personal assistant to the Lucky Man,
approached The Luciy Man and
drawing near and
giving a respectful salutation,
stood to one side.
Standing to one side,
Old Man Meghiya said this
to The Lucky Man:
"I wish, bhante,
to enter Grass-parish
for hand-outs."
"Do, Meghiya,
what you think
it is now time for."
There then Old Man Meghiya,
having at a previous time
taken up his bowl and robes
entered Grass-parish for hand-outs.
Having gone for hand-outs in Grass-parish, and
having eaten the hand-outs that were his meal,
as he was returning from his begging round,
came upon the bank of Black-worm River.
Then, walking about,
following it along,
exploring
the bank of Black-worm River,
Old Man Meghiya saw a
charming,
delightful
mango grove, and
said to himself:
"For sure this is a
charming,
delightful,
mango grove!
For sure this would be enough for
a clansman's son
properly seeking exertion.
If Bhagavā allows,
I will come back to this mango grove
to strive."
Then Old Man Meghiya
approached The Luciy Man and
drawing near and
giving a respectful salutation,
took a seat to one side.
Seated to one side,
Old Man Meghiya said this
to The Lucky Man:
"I, bhante, having earlier
taken up my bowl and robes
entered Grass-parish for hand-outs.
Having gone for hand-outs in Grass-parish, and
having eaten the hand-outs that were my meal,
as I was returning from my begging round,
I came upon the bank of Black-worm River.
Then, walking about,
following it along,
exploring
the bank of Black-worm River,
I saw a
charming,
delightful
mango grove, and
said to myself:
'For sure this is a
charming,
delightful,
mango grove!
For sure this would be enough for
a clansman's son
properly seeking exertion.
If Bhagavā allows,
I will come back to this mango grove
to strive.'
If Bhagavā allows,
I will go back to this mango grove
to strive."
"Don't go yet, Meghiya,
for I am alone."
Wait a little
til another beggar comes along."
Then for a second time,
Old Man Meghiya made this request of
The Lucky Man:
"For The Lucky Man, bhante,
there is nothing more
that is higher to do,
nothing to do additionally.
But for me, bhante
there is more
that is higher to do,
there is that which is to be done additionally.
If Bhagavā allows,
I will go back to that mango grove
to strive."
"Don't go yet, Meghiya,
for I am alone."
Wait a little
til another beggar comes along."
Then for a third time,
Old Man Meghiya made this request of
The Lucky Man:
"For The Lucky Man, bhante,
there is nothing more
that is higher to do,
nothing to do additionally.
But for me, bhante
there is more
that is higher to do,
there is that which is to be done additionally.
If Bhagavā allows,
I will go back to that mango grove
to strive."
"When you say 'strive' Meghiya,
what more can I say?
Do, Meghiya,
what you think
it is now time for."
There then Old Man Meghiya
rose up from his seat and
keeping The Lucky Man to his right
made respectful salutation and
approached that mango grove.
Having come to that mangro grove
he went in and
seated himself
at the root of a tree
for the day's abiding.
But to Old Man Meghiya
having come to that mangro grove
for the day's abiding
there mostly arose and
dogged his mind
three sorts of bad,
unskillful
thoughts:
namely,
thoughts of sense pleasures,
deviant thoughts,
thoughts of violence.
At this
Old Man Meghiya said to himself:
"How marvelous! my good man!
How unreal, my good man!
That having, out of faith,
left homelife for
the homeless life of the ascetic,
you are still dogged by
these three sorts of bad,
unskillful
thoughts:
namely,
thoughts of sense pleasures,
deviant thoughts
thoughts of violence."
Then Old Man Meghiya
approached The Luciy Man and
drawing near and
giving a respectful salutation,
took a seat to one side.
Seated to one side,
Old Man Meghiya said this
to The Lucky Man:
"Here, bhante,
having come to that mangro grove,
I went in and
seated myself
at the root of a tree
for the day's abiding.
But having come to that mangro grove
for the day's abiding
there mostly arose and
dogged my mind
three sorts of bad,
unskillful,
thoughts:
namely,
thoughts of sense pleasures,
deviant thoughts,
thoughts of violence.
At this I said to myself:
'How marvelous! my good man!
How unreal, my good man!
That having, out of faith,
left homelife for
the homeless life of the ascetic,
you are still dogged by
these three sorts of bad,
unskillful,
thoughts:
namely,
thoughts of sense pleasures,
deviant thoughts,
thoughts of violence.'"
"When, Meghiya,
the heart's liberation
is not yet ripe,
five things lead to its ripening.
What five?
[ 1 ] Here Meghiya, a beggar has
a virtuous friend[1]
a virtuous companion,
a virtuous confidant.
When, Meghiya,
the heart's liberation
is not yet ripe,
this is the first thing
that leads to its ripening.
[ 2 ] And again, Meghiya,
in addition to that,
a beggar has ethics,
controlling himself by
the restraint
imposed by high ethical standards-[2]
he lives walking the walk of
the self-possessed,
seeing the smallest thing
that should be avoided
as a source of fear,
controlling himself by
training in the trainee's path.
When, Meghiya,
the heart's liberation
is not yet ripe,
this is the second thing
that leads to its ripening.
[ 3 ] And again, Meghiya,
in addition to that,
whaatever a beggar talks of,
it is serious,
liberating to the heart,
such as
talk of having few wants,[3]
talk of contentment,[4]
talk of doing without,[5]
talk of being without contact,[6]
talk of energetic starting,[7]
talk of ethics,[8]
talk of serenity,[9]
talk of wisdom[10]
talk of freedom,[11]
talk of knowing and seeing freedom,[12]
gaining the pleasure of this sort of talk
without difficulty,
without trouble.
When, Meghiya,
the heart's liberation
is not yet ripe,
this is the third thing
that leads to its ripening.
[ 4 ] And again, Meghiya,
in addition to that,
a beggar sets up living energeticly;
letting go of unskillful things
taking up skillful things
consistantly preservering,
strong,
vigorous,
he does not put down
the burden of skillful things.
When, Meghiya,
the heart's liberation
is not yet ripe,
this is the fourth thing
that leads to its ripening.
[ 5 ] And again, Meghiya,
in addition to that,
a beggar is possessed of
that body of penetrative wisdom
concering the ways things
arise and fall
that leads to
pain's consummate eradication.
When, Meghiya,
the heart's liberation
is not yet ripe,
this is the fifth thing
that leads to its ripening.
For a beggar with a
virtuous friend,
virtuous compantion,
virtuous conficant, Meghiya,
there is reason to expect
that he will become ethical,
controlling himself by
the restraint
imposed by high ethical standards,
live walking the walk of
the self-possessed,
seeing the smallest thing
that should be avoided
as a source of fear,
controlling himself by
training in the trainee's path.
For a beggar with a
virtuous friend,
virtuous compantion,
virtuous conficant, Meghiya,
there is reason to expect
that whaatever he talks of
it will be serious,
liberating to the heart,
such as
talk of having few wants,
talk of contentment,
talk of doing without,
talk of being without contact,
talk of energetic starting,
talk of ethics,
talk of serenity,
talk of wisdom,
talk of freedom,
talk of knowing and seeing freedom,
gaining the pleasure of this sort of talk
without difficulty,
without trouble.
For a beggar with a
virtuous friend,
virtuous compantion,
virtuous conficant, Meghiya,
there is reason to expect
that he will set up living energeticly;
letting go of unskillful things
taking up skillful things
consistantly preservering,
strong,
vigorous,
he will not put down
the burden of skillful things.
For a beggar with a
virtuous friend,
virtuous compantion,
virtuous conficant, Meghiya,
there is reason to expect
that he will become one who is possessed of
that body of penetrative wisdom concering
the ways things
arise and fall
that leads to pain's consummate eradication.
And then, Meghiya,
that beggar,
established in these five things,
four more things
need to be developed:
[ 1 ] The unattractive[13]
sould be made to become for
the letting-go of the attractive.
[ 2 ] Friendliness[14]
should be made to become for
the letting go of deviance.
[ 3 ] Minding the in-and-out-breaths[15]
should be made to become for
the cutting off of thinking.
[ 4 ] Perception of change[16]
should be made to become for
the uprooting of the arrogance "I-am".
Perception of change, Meghiya
sets up
perception of not-self.
Perception of not-self
uproots
the arrogance "I-am"
uprooting
the arrogance "I-am"
one arrives at Nibbāna
in this visible state.[17]"
[1] kalyāṇa-mitto PED: "1. a good companion, a virtuous friend, an honest, pure friend ... he is said to "have faith, be virtuous, learned, liberal and wise; 2. As technical term a spiritual guide, spiritual adviser. The Buddha is the spiritual friend par excellence, but any other Arahant can act as such."
[2] Paṭimokkha PED: "1. A sort of remedy, purgative; 2. binding, obligatory ... a binding promise." The assumption being made by the translators seems to be that this refers to the rules of the order. I think it is earlier in meaning and intends to convey the idea of the purgative properties of a high ethical standard especially when taken on as a guide to awakening.
[3] Appiccha PED: "desiring little or nothing, easily satisfied, unassuming, contented, unpretentious "
[4] Santuṭṭhi PED: "satisfaction, contentment"
[5] Paviveka PED: "retirement, solitude, seclusion"
[6] Asaṃsagga "No-" PED: "contact, connection, association — Two kinds of contact ... by sight (dassana°) and by hearing (savaṇa°). — pada° contact of two words, "sandhi" -°jāta one who has come into contact."
[7] viriy'ārambha PED: "viriya literally "state of a strong man," i.e. vigour, energy, effort, exertion. ... manly strength — viriyaṃ āra(m)bhati to put forth energy, to make an effort — as adjective ... alert, energetic ... full of energy, putting forth energy, strenuous... — v. is one of the indriyas, the balas and the sambojjhaṅgas." "Ārambha [Sanskrit ārambha in meaning "beginning" 1. Attempt, effort, inception of energy ... undertaking and duty ... zeal, resolution, energy. 2. support, ground, object, thing an° unsupported, independent"
[8] Sīla PED: "1. nature, character, habit, behaviour; usually as —° in adjective function 'being of such a nature,' like, having the character of. 2. moral practice, good character, Buddhist ethics, code of morality.
The dasa-sīla or ten items of good character are:
(1) pāṇatipātā veramaṇī, i.e. abstinence from taking life;
(2) adinnādānā (from) taking what is not given to one;
(3) a brahmacariyā adultery (oṭherwise called kāmesu micchā-cārā);
(4) musā-vādā telling lies;
(5) pisuna-vācāya slander;
(6) pharusa-vācāya harsh or impolite speech;
(7) samphappalāpā frivolous and senseless talk;
(8) abhijjhāya covetousness;
(9) byāpādā malevolence;
(10) micchā-diṭṭhiyā hereticical views."
[9] Samādhi PED: "1. concentration; a concentrated, self-collected, intent state of mind and meditation, which, concomitant with right living, is a necessary condition to the attainment of higher wisdom and emancipation.
in the ascending order of merit accruing from the life of a samaṇa [it] stands between the sīla-sampadā and the paññā-sampadā. In the Ambaṭṭha-sutta the corresponding terms are sīla, caraṇa, vijjā Thus samādhi would comprise (a) the guarding of the senses (indriyesu gutta-dvāratā), (b) self-possession (sati-sampajañña), (c) contentment (santuṭṭhi), (d) emancipation from the five hindrances (nīvaraṇāni), (e) the four jhānas.
2. Its four nimittas or signs are the four satipaṭṭhānas ... The second jhāna is born from samādhi ... it is a condition for attaining kusalā dhammā ... conducive to insight ... to seeing heavenly sights ... to removing mountains ... removes the delusions of self .. leads to Arahantship .. ceto-samādhi (rapture of mind) ... almost identical with samatha
Three kinds of samādhi are distinguished, suññata or empty, appaṇihita or aimless, and animitta or signless."
[10] Paññā PED: "[the adjective form of paññā] of wisdom, endowed with knowledge or insight, possessed of the highest cognition; ... intelligence, comprising all the higher faculties of cognition, 'intellect as conversant with general truths' ... reason, wisdom, insight, knowledge, recognition. ... As technical term in Buddhist psychological ethics it comprises the highest and last stage as 3rd division in the standard 'Code of religious practice' which leads to Arahantship or final emancipation. These 3 stages are: (1) sīla-kkhandha (or °sampadā), code of moral duties; (2) samādhi-kkhandha (or citta-sampadā) code of emotional duties or practice of concentration and meditation; (3) paññā-k-khandha code of intellectual duties or practice of the attainment of highest knowledge."
[11] Vimutti PED: "release, deliverance, emancipation". I think this is the state of having been released, delivered, emancipated and it is Vimokkha that is the process of getting free.
[12] Vimutti-ñāṇa-dassana PED: "ñāṇa knowledge, intelligence, insight, conviction, recognition; dassana 1. Literally seeing, looking; noticing; sight of, appearance, look. 2. Applied (power of) perception, faculty of apperception, insight, view, theory; especially (a) in combination ñāṇa-dassana either "knowing and seeing," or perhaps "the insight arising from knowledge," perfect knowledge, realization of the truth, wisdom.
[13] asubhā PED: "impure, unpleasant, bad, ugly, nasty" subhā PED: "shining, bright, beautiful". This pair is initally to be understood as perceiving the ugliness of a person one is attracted to, but with further development is to be understood as being able to perceive the unattractive in anything attractive.
rāga PED: "2 (as technical term in philosophy and ethics) excitement, passion; seldom by itself, mostly in combination with dosa, and moha, as the three fundamental blemishes of character: passion or lust (uncontrolled excitement), ill-will (anger) and infatuation (bewilderment)"
[14] mettā PED: "derived from mid to love, to be fat, ... love, amity, sympathy, friendliness, active interest in others." "Love" used to be undestood in a broader sense (the strong, but asexual sense of liking of one person for another) than it is today (an almost obsessive desire to have sexual relations with another) and is now no longer appropriate to use as a definition of mettā
vyāpāda PED: "making bad, doing harm: desire to injure, malevolence, ill-will" If one sees the path (the Magga) as good, then one can see that deviance from that path is not just limited to anger or hate.
[15] Ānāpāna-sati ānāpāna PED: "[āna + apāna, compounds of an to breathe] inhaled and exhaled breath, inspiration and respiration ... ; usually in compound °sati concentration by in-breathing and out-breathing" -sati. I say "Minding"
vitakka PED: "[vi + takka] reflection, thought, thinking"
[16] Anicca-saññā a nicca- PED: "... from ni, meaning "downward" = onward, on and on ... constant, continuous, permanent" saññā PED: "1. sense, consciousness, perception, being the third khandha 2. sense, perception, discernment, recognition, assimilation of sensations, awareness"
asmī- PED: "I Am" māna PED: "from man, original meaning perhaps 'high opinions'; hence "pride" 1. pride, conceit, arrogance"
[17] diṭṭhe'va dhamma "This seen thing." A more accurate descriptive term for 'the here and now' or 'in the moment'.
