Saṃyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
3. Kosala Saṃyutta
2. Aputtaka Vagga
Sutta 17
Appamada[1]
Translated from the Pāḷi
by
Michael M. Olds
[17.1][rhyc][than] I Hear Tell:
Once Upon a Time, the Great Teacher,
Sāvatthi-town,
Anāthapiṇḍika Park,
Jeta Grove
came a revisiting.
There the King, the Kosalan Pasenadi, came to call,
and after the exchange of friendly greetings,
polite talk
and common courtesies,
he sat down at a respectful distance,
on a lower seat,
to one side.
There he spoke to The Great Teacher, saying:
"Is there any one thing, Great Teacher,
that will gain one's getting of attainment
both in the here and now
and in the hereafter?"
"Yes Great King, there is such a one thing."
"But what is that one thing, Great Teacher?"
"'Appamāda',[2] Great King,
is that one thing
that will gain one's getting of attainment
both in the here and now
and in the hereafter.
In the same way, Great King,
as all the tracks
of breathing things that walk
are encompassed by the track of the elephant,
and of tracks,
on account of its size,
the elephant's is reckoned number one,
in the same way, Great King,
this one Dhamma,
on account of its scope,
gains one's getting of attainment
both in the here and now
and in the hereafter."
[1] Footnote in Rhys Davids translation:
"'A-p-pamada' is a negative term, meaning not-delay, not-dalliance, non-infatuation, from the root, or roots, mad, mand, 'to be exhilarated.' (See Whitney, Sanskrit Roots, 118) From this source we get both the terms for such a state and those for its results and by-products: — intoxication, obsession, insanity, want of concentration and earnestness, etc. Cf. below, VI, 2, § 5. B. qualifies the term by the (unusual) word kārāpaka — : diligence in making [others] do their work."
PED has kārāpaka as "a schemer, inventor."
[2] This is one of the most frequently occurring words in the Pāḷi and the importance of it, reflected in such similes as above and many others that point to its value is not well reflected in the translations 'earnestness, diligence, etc.' In my opinion best left untranslated. See: Glossology: Appamāda.
