Aṅguttara Nikāya
IX. Navaka Nipāta
I. Sambodha Vagga

The Book of Nines

Sutta 4

Nandaka Suttaṃ

Nandaka

Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds

[1][pts][upal] I hear tell

Once upon a time The Lucky Man,
Sāvātthi-town revisiting,
Anāthapiṇḍika's Jetavana sporting ground.

There then, Old Man Nandako
was giving a talk on Dhamma
in the service hall,
informing,^[1]
inciting,^[2]
filling with enthusiasm,^[3]
gladdening,^[4]
that company of beggars.

There then The Lucky Man,
having arisen from
his solitary meditation
towards evening time
approached the service hall and
drew near.

Having drawn near,
he stood outside the entrance
waiting for the talk to end.

Then, when he had determind
that the talk was finished,
The Lucky Man gave a cough and
knocked upon the crossbar.^[5]

A beggar then opened the gate
for The Lucky Man.

There then The Lucky Man
entered the service hall.

Having entered
he sat down
on the seat prepared for him.^[6]

Then, seated,
The Lucky Man said this
to Old Man Nandaka:

"Long, Nandaka,
was this extraordinary Dhamma-lesson
given to the beggars!

My back ached
standing there
outside the gate
waiting for the end of
this Dhamma lesson!

This said, Old Man Nandaka
showing his timidity
in the vsible form of embarrassment^[7]
said this to The Lucky Man:

I did not then know, bhante,
'The Lucky Man is standing outside the gate.'

If indeed I had known
just this much
'The Lucky Man is standing outside the gate'
I would not have responded so lengthily.^[8]

At that point The Lucky Man,
perceiving Old Man Nandacka's discumforture
said this to Old Man Nandaka:

"Be well! Be well, Nandaka,
it is alright Nandaka,
it is fitting that you
sons of good families
who through faith
have left the homelife
to wander forth in homelessness
that when you have gathered together
to discuss Dhamma
you do one of two things:
either you talk Dhamma
or you
maintain aristocratic silence.

In Hare's translation I have inserted the following in a sidebar: "The transition here is unusually abrupt. It feels as though there were some introductory remarks left out, as, for example, some reference to what was being taught by Nandaka." Here in my own translation I will venture a guess as to what is going on that makes this no abrupt transition. My guess is that this was a message to Nandaka that he should develop insight into the wisdom of higher Dhamma. That would have enabled him to know that the Buddha was waiting for him to finish speaking.

— p.p.

If a beggar have faith, Nandaka,
but is not ethical,
from this angle
he is incomplete.

He should complete
this angle
thinking:

'How can I have faith
and ethics?'

And then when
a beggar has faith
and ethics
he is by that
complete in this angle.

If a beggar have faith, Nandaka,
and ethics
but has not gained internal calm of heart,
from this angle
he is incomplete.

He should complete
this angle
thinking:

'How can I have faith
and ethics,
and internal calm of heart?'

And then when
a beggar has faith
and ethics
and internal calm of heart
he is by that
complete in this angle.

If a beggar have faith, Nandaka,
and ethics
and internal calm of heart,
but has not gained insight into
the wisdom of higher Dhamma
from this angle
he is incomplete.

In the same way, Nandaka
as a four footed breathing creature
that is lame or impared in one foot
is from that angle
incomplete,
even so, Nandaka,
if a beggar have faith
and ethics
and internal calm of heart,
but has not gained insight into
the wisdom of higher Dhamma
from this angle
he is incomplete.

He should complete
this angle
thinking:

'How can I have faith
and ethics,
and internal calm of heart
and insight into
the wisdom of higher Dhamma?'

And then when
a beggar has faith
and ethics
and internal calm of heart
and insight into
the wisdom of higher Dhamma
he is by that
complete in this angle."

This is what The Lucky Man said,
and having said this,
the Well Gone rose from his seat and
retired to his rooms.

There then,
not long after The Lucky Man had departed
Old Man Nandaka addressed the beggars,
saying:

"Here friends, The Lucky Man,
has gotten up and
retired to his rooms
after teaching us
the complete
entirely pure Brahma-life
in four steps
thus:

'If a beggar have faith, Nandaka,
but is not ethical,
from this angle
he is incomplete.

He should complete
this angle
thinking:

"How can I have faith
and ethics?"

And then when
a beggar has faith
and ethics
he is by that
complete in this angle.

If a beggar have faith, Nandaka,
and ethics
but has not gained internal calm of heart,
from this angle
he is incomplete.

He should complete
this angle
thinking:

"How can I have faith
and ethics,
and internal calm of heart?"

And then when
a beggar has faith
and ethics
and internal calm of heart
he is by that
complete in this angle.

If a beggar have faith, Nandaka,
and ethics
and internal calm of heart,
but has not gained insight into
the wisdom of higher Dhamma
from this angle
he is incomplete.

He should complete
this angle
thinking:

"How can I have faith
and ethics,
and internal calm of heart
and insight into
the wisdom of higher Dhamma?"

And then when
a beggar has faith
and ethics
and internal calm of heart
and insight into
the wisdom of higher Dhamma
he is by that
complete in this angle.'"

"Five, my friends,
are the advantages of
a timely hearing of Dhamma, of
a timely Dhammatalk.

What five?

Here, friends, a beggar
teaches the beggars Dhamma;
useful at the start,
useful in the middle,
useful at the conclusion,
in both spirit and letter
making known the
entirely pure Brahma-life.

This, my friends,
is the first advantage of
a timely hearing of Dhamma, of
a timely Dhammatalk.

Again, friends, and deeper than that,
a beggar teaches the beggars Dhamma;
useful at the start,
useful in the middle,
useful at the conclusion,
in both spirit and letter
making known the
entirely pure Brahma-life.

This, my friends,
is the second advantage of
a timely hearing of Dhamma, of
a timely Dhammatalk.

This, my friends,
is the third advantage of
a timely hearing of Dhamma, of
a timely Dhammatalk.

'For sure this friend
has,
or is not far from
attainment.'

This, my friends,
is the fourth advantage of
a timely hearing of Dhamma, of
a timely Dhammatalk.

Whenever, friends,
a beggar
teaches the beggars Dhamma;
useful at the start,
useful in the middle,
useful at the conclusion,
in both spirit and letter
making known the
entirely pure Brahma-life
then those beggars that are students
who have little mastery of the mind
who live striving to attain
the ultimate peace
these, having heard that Dhamma,
live undertaking
the acquisition of
the not yet acquired
the possesion of
the not yet possessed.

Moreover those beggars who are arahants,
who have destroyed the corrupting influences,
who have reached perfection,
done duties doing,
laid down he load,
who have reached the highest good,
exhosted becoming's bondage,
by consummate answer-knowledge^[9] freed,
these, hearing that Dhamma,
live, in this seen thing,
in an unrivaled
pleasant living.

This, my friends,
is the fifth advantage of
a timely hearing of Dhamma, of
a timely Dhammatalk.

These, my friends,
are the five advantages of
a timely hearing of Dhamma, of
a timely Dhammatalk."

^[1] sandesseti PED: news, message

^[2] samādapeti PED: to cause to take, to incite, rouse

^[3] samuttejeti PED: to excite, gladden, to fill with enthusiasm

^[4] sampahaṃseti PED: gladdening

^[5] dvāra PED: an outer door, a gate, entrance, This was likely a gate in a wooden fence surrounding an open columned hall enclosed in large, probably very expensive, sheet-like cloths. See Archiologist's guess as to the layout of Anathapindica's Jeta Grove

^[6] Whenever the beggars sat down to meditate or discuss Dhamma, a seat was also prepared for the Buddha.

^[7] sārajjamānarūpa sārajja- PED: timidity; māna- which I take as from mānasa in the Vedic sense of "belonging to mind"] sārajjamāna: being bashful, timid, embarrassed, or self-conscious rūpa form. So we get "showing his timidity in the visible form of embarassment." Or something like that.

^[8] This is not a clear passage in the Pāḷi. In English it makes sense without the quotation marks, but the quotation marks [ti] are there so I figure this was a conventional manner of speech. (Letting the listener know exactly what happened.) I figure the same applies to the idea that Nandaka characterizes his discourse as a response. It is quite reasonable to think that he was responding to a question asked by some bhikkhu there but an English story-teller would leave that fact out of his telling.

^[9] Aññā PED: "knowledge, recognition, perfect knowledge, philosophic insight, knowledge par excellence, viz. Arahantship, saving knowledge, gnosis." Sometimes also translated "omnicience: where it is understood to be knowing and seeing whatever is wanted to be known or seen whenever one wants to know or see it. It is not to be understood as meaning that one knows all things all the time.

Aṅguttara Nikāya IX. Navaka Nipāta I. Sambodha Vagga

The Book of Nines

Sutta 4

Nandaka Suttaṃ

Nandaka

Aṅguttara Nikāya
IX. Navaka Nipāta
I. Sambodha Vagga