Counsel to Puṇṇa

[267] [307]

[1][pts][upal] THUS have I heard:

Once when the Lord was staying at Sāvatthī in Jeta's grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's pleasaunce,
the reverend Puṇṇa,
rising at eventide from his meditations,
came to the Lord and,
when seated after due salutations,
asked the Lord to teach him concisely how,
having listened to the Lord's Doctrine,
he should live alone and aloof,
strenuous,
ardent and purged of self.

Listen then, Puṇṇa,
and pay attention;
and I will speak.

Then to the attentive Puṇṇa the Lord began: -

There are forms of which sight is conscious,
sounds of which the hearing is conscious,
odours of which smell is conscious,
savours of which taste is conscious,
impressions of which touch is conscious,
and mental objects of which the mind is conscious, -
all of them desirable,
agreeable,
pleasant
and attractive,
all of them bound up with lusts
and exciting to passion.

If an Almsman hails
and welcomes any of these
and cleaves to them,
delight will thus arise in him;
and from the beginning of delight, say I,
comes the beginning of Ill.

But if he does not hail
and welcome
and cleave to them,
delight will thus cease in him;
and from the cessation of delight, say I,
comes the cessation of Ill.

[268] With this concise teaching from me, Puṇṇa,
in what country will you take up your abode.

In Sunāparanta, sir.

They are a fierce and violent race, Puṇṇa,
in Sunāparanta.

If they were to abuse and revile you there,
what would you think?

[308] I should think, Lord,
that the good folk of Sunāparanta
were really nice people,
very nice people indeed,
in that they forbore to strike me.

But if they did strike you?

I should think, Lord,
... forbore to pelt me with clods.

But if they did pelt you with clods?

I should think, Lord,
... forbore to cudgel me.

[269] But if they did cudgel you?

I should think, Lord,
... forbore to knife me.

But if they did knife you?

I should think, Lord,
... forbore to take my life.

But if they did take your life?

If they did, Lord,
I should think that there are disciples of the Lord
who, in their tribulation and despair,
are on the look-out for someone with a knife,
and that I have found him
without having to hunt about.

That is what I should think, Lord;
that would be my thought, Blessed One.

Good indeed, Puṇṇa.

With such a command of yourself,
you will be able to live with the folk of Sunāparanta.

With grateful thanks to the LordSunaparantafor what he had said,
the reverend Puṇṇa rose,
took his leave of the Lord with deep reverence,
and, after putting his bedding away properly,
departed, bowl in hand and duly robed,
to beg his way to the Sunāparanta country,
to which in due course he came
and there dwelt.

Before the close of his very first rainy season,
Puṇṇa had gathered round him
five hundred disciples of each sex,
and had realized the Three Knowledges.

Time came when the reverend Puṇṇa passed away,
and the Almsmen came to the Lord
to ask [270] what future awaited him
and what his destiny would be.

Instructed, Almsmen, was the young man Puṇṇa;
he readily embraced the Doctrine
and its corollaries;
he gave me no trouble doctrinally.

He has passed to Nirvana.

Thus spoke the Lord.

Glad at heart,
those Almsmen rejoiced in what the Lord had said.

Majjhima Nikāya III. Upari Paṇṇāsa 5. Saḷāyatana Vagga

Sacred Books of the Buddhists Volume VI Dialogues of the Buddha Part V

Further Dialogues of the Buddha Volume II

Sutta 145

Puṇṇ'Ovāda Suttaɱ

Counsel to Puṇṇa

Majjhima Nikāya
III. Upari Paṇṇāsa
5. Saḷāyatana Vagga

Sacred Books of the Buddhists
Volume VI
Dialogues of the Buddha
Part V

Further Dialogues of the Buddha
Volume II