Majjhima Nikāya
II. Majjhima Paṇṇāsa
3. Paribbājaka Vagga
Sacred Books of the Buddhists
Volume VI
Dialogues of the Buddha
Part V
Further Dialogues of the Buddha
Volume II
Translated from the Pali
by Lord Chalmers, G.C.B.
Sometime Governor of Ceylon
London
Humphrey Milford
Oxford University Press
1927
Public Domain
Sutta 78
Samaṇamaṇḍikā Suttaɱ
The Suckling
[1][pts][than][upal] THUS have I heard:
Once when the Lord was staying at Sāvatthī
in Jeta's grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's pleasaunce,
the Wanderer Uggāhamāna,[1]
whose mother was Samaṇa-Maṇḍikā,
was living in Queen Mallikā's [13] pleasaunce,
where the original Discussion Hall stood
among the Diospyros trees;
[23] and with Uggāhamāna
there was a great company of Wanderers
numbering some three hundred.
Now, Pañcakanga the carpenter had left the city in the early morning to visit the Lord,
when he bethought him that the hour was too early,
because of the Lord's private meditations
and because it was not the right time
to visit Almsmen when absorbed in thinking,
for Almsmen are given to meditation and thought.
So he thought he would go and see Uggāhamāna in Queen Mallikā's pleasaunce,
and thither he repaired.
At the time Uggāhamānawas sitting with his great company of Wanderers,
who were making a great noise
with their voices raised and loud
in all manner of low and beastly talk, -
about princes,
bandits,
great lords' armies,
terrors,
battles,
meats and drinks,
clothes,
beds,
garlands,
perfumes,
relations,
villages,
townships,
cities,
countries,
women,
warriors,
roads,
wells,
kinsfolk departed,
and all the rest of it,
with chatter about world and ocean,
and about being and not-being.
When from some way off Uggāhamāna saw Pañcakanga the carpenter, coming,
he hushed his company by saying:
Be quiet, sirs;
do not make a noise;
here comes Pañcakanga the carpenter,
the disciple of the recluse Gotama and has been here all the time the white-robed lay disciples of Gotama
have been at Sāvatthī.
These reverend men are lovers of silence
and commend the silent;
if he observes silence reigning in this gathering
he may decide to approach.
So they became silent,
and the carpenter came up and,
after exchanging civil greetings with [24] Uggāhamāna,
took a seat to one side
and was addressed by the Wanderer as follows: -
In my view, carpenter,
four qualities characterize the triumphant recluse
who is imbued with the right,
who excels in the right,
and has won all that is to be won.
What are these four qualities? -
He does nothing evil,
he says nothing evil,
he thinks nothing evil,
and he gets his living in no evil way.
These are my four characteristics
of the triumphant recluse.
Expressing neither satisfaction nor disagreement with this pronouncement,
Pañcakanga got up and went away
to tell the Lord,
who, being duly told, said: -
On Uggāhamāna's showing, carpenter,
a tiny babe on its back
is his triumphant recluse.
For, as yet, the babe does not know what a body means,
much less will it do evil with its body,
beyond kicking about;
it does not know what speech is,
much less will it say [14] anything evil,
beyond crying;
it does not know what thought is,
beyond crowing with delight[2];
it does not know what a livelihood is,
much less [25] will it get its living in an evil way,
beyond sucking its mother.
No, carpenter; in my view,
these four qualities do not characterize the triumphant recluse,
but only define the tiny babe on its back.
In my view, Carpenter,
there are ten qualities
which characterize the triumphant recluse
who is imbued with the right,
excels in the right,
and has won all that is to be won.
I premise that there must be knowledge of what wrong conduct is,
how it arises,
how it is ended without leaving a vestige behind,
and how a man walks so as to end it.
There must be the like knowledge
of right conduct
and of wrong [26] and right thoughts.
In what now does wrong conduct consist? -
In wrong actions,
wrong speech,
and an evil mode of livelihood. -
How do these arise?
From the heart is the answer. -
What is the heart?
The heart is manifold,
complex,
and diverse,
tainted by emotions (sa-citta),
passion,
ill-will,
and density. -
What becomes of wrong conduct
when it ceases without leaving a vestige behind?
Why, when an Almsman,
discarding wrong behaviour
- of body - or of speech - or of mind -
develops the corresponding right behaviour,
and similarly discards a wicked mode of livelihood
for the right mode. -
How does he walk to end wrong conduct?
When he brings will to bear,
puts forth endeavour and energy,
struggles and strives heartily
(i) to stop the rise of evil and wrong states of consciousness
which have not yet arisen,
(ii) to discard those
which have already arisen,
(iii) to breed right states
not yet existing, and
(iv) to stablish,
clarify,
multiply,
enlarge,
develop,
and to perfect existing good states.
[27] In what does rectitude consist? -
In right [15] actions,
in right speech,
and in blameless mode of livelihood. -
How do these arise?
From the heart is the answer. -
What is the heart?
The heart is manifold,
complex,
and diverse.
Rectitude arises
from the heart which is void of passion,
void of ill-will,
and void of density. -
What becomes of rectitude
when it ceases without leaving a vestige behind?
When an Almsman embodies virtue
and not merely virtuous observances,
by coming to know Deliverance of heart
by mind aright
so that (mere) rectitude ceases without leaving a vestige behind. -
How does he walk to end rectitude?
When he brings will to bear,
puts forth endeavour and energy,
struggles and strives heartily
(i) to stop the rise of evil and wrong states of consciousness
which have not yet arisen,
(ii) to discard those
which have already arisen,
(iii) to breed right states
not yet existing, and
(iv) to stablish,
clarify,
multiply,
enlarge,
develop,
and to perfect existing good states.
What are wrong thoughts?
They are thoughts of pleasures of sense,
malevolence,
and cruelty. -
How do these arise?
From perception, is the answer. -
What is this perception?
It is manifold,
complex,
and diverse,
divided into perceptions of pleasure,
of malevolence,
and of cruelty. -
How do these cease without leaving a vestige behind?
Why, when divested of pleasures of sense,
[28] an Almsman enters on,
and abides in,
the First Ecstasy
with all its zest and satisfaction, -
a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection.
How does he walk to end wrong thoughts?
When he brings will to bear,
puts forth endeavour and energy,
struggles and strives heartily
(i) to stop the rise of evil and wrong states of consciousness
which have not yet arisen,
(ii) to discard those
which have already arisen,
(iii) to breed right states
not yet existing, and
(iv) to stablish,
clarify,
multiply,
enlarge,
develop,
and to perfect existing good states.
What are right thoughts?
Thoughts of Renunciation,
thoughts innocent of malevolence and of cruelty. -
How do these arise?
From perception, is the answer. -
What is this perception? -
It is manifold,
complex,
and diverse,
divided into perception of Renunciation,
perception which is innocent of malevolence,
and perception which is innocent of cruelty. -
How do these perceptions cease without leaving a vestige behind?
Why, when, rising above observation and reflection,
an Almsman enters on,
and abides in,
the Second Ecstasy
with all its zest and satisfaction, -
a state bred of rapt concentration,
above all observation and reflection,
a state whereby the heart is focussed
and tranquillity reigns within.
How does he walk to end right thoughts?
When he brings will to bear,
puts forth endeavour and energy,
struggles and strives heartily
(i) to stop the rise of evil and wrong states of consciousness
which have not yet arisen,
(ii) to discard those
which have already arisen,
(iii) to breed right states
not yet existing, and
(iv) to stablish,
clarify,
multiply,
enlarge,
develop,
and to perfect existing good states.
What now, carpenter, are the ten qualities
which characterize the [29] triumphant recluse
who is imbued with the right,
excels in the right,
and has won all [16] that is to be done?
Why, when the Almsman is an adept
in the Noble Eightfold Path,
and in utter knowledge
and in utter Deliverance; -
this makes the triumphant recluse.
Thus spoke the Lord.
Glad at heart the carpenter Pañcakanga rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
[1] Bu. says this was a nickname given him because he 'was always learning,' his original name being Sumana (= Felix). It may be that the first part of his mother's name has been altered from Sumanā to Samaṇā (recluse), just as there is the further tendency to read -muṇḍikā for the second part so as to make her name mean 'shaveling relcuse' on familiar Pali analogy.
[2] Because of its memories of the heavens which it has recently left, says Bu. in a Wordsworthian mood. (It cries, he adds, because of its memories of purgatory.)
