Aṇguttara Nikāya
VIII. Navaka Nipāta
IV. Mahā Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
VIII. The Book of the Nines
Chapter IV: The Great Chapter
Sutta 35
Gāvī-Upamā Suttaṃ
The Cow
Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.
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Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Savatthī, at Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park
there the Exalted One addressed the Monks, saying:
"Monks,[1] suppose a cow,
mountain-bred,
foolish,
witless,
with no pasture-sense,[2] no good at roaming the rugged mountains,
were to think:
'What if I were to go where I have never been before;
what if I were to eat of the grasses I have never eaten of before;
what if I were to drink of the waters I have never drunk of before!'
■
And suppose she should lift her hind leg
before she had planted her fore leg firmly and well,
she would neither go to that place where she had not been to before,
nor eat of the grasses she had not eaten of before,
nor drink of the waters she had not drunk of before,
nor would she get back to that place safely[3]
where her feet had formerly been planted,
when she thought:
'What if I were to go where I have never been before;
what if I were to eat of the grasses I have never eaten of before;
what if I were to drink of the waters I have never drunk of before!'
■
And why?[4]
It is because, monks, that cow,
mountain-bred,
foolish,
witless,
with no pasture-sense,
was no good at roaming the rugged mountains.
■
In just the same way, monks, some foolish, witless monk,
[282] with no pasture-sense,
unskilled in entering and abiding in the first musing
aloof from sense desires,
aloof from evil ideas,
enters and abides in the first musing,
wherein applied and sustained thought works,
which is born of solitude
and is full of zest and ease,
does not practise,
make become,
develop,
nor fix the sign thereof[5]
so that it is well fixed;
yet thinks:
'What if, after suppressing applied and sustained thought,
I were to enter and abide in the second musing,
which is self-evolved,
born of concentration,
full of zest and ease,
free from applied and sustained thought,
wherein the mind becomes calm and one-pointed!'
but he is not able to suppress such thoughts.
So he thinks:
'What if, aloof from sense desires,
aloof from evil ideas,
I were to enter and abide in the first musing,
wherein applied and sustained thought works,
which is born of solitude
and is full of zest and ease'|| ||
but he is not able to do that.
■
Monks, this monk is said to have fallen[6] at both,
failed at both,
and is just like that foolish,
witless,
mountain-bred cow,
with no pasture-sense,
no good at roaming the rugged mountains.
§
But suppose, monks, a wise,
intelligent,
mountain-bred cow,
with pasture-sense
and good at roaming rugged mountains,
were to think:
'What if I were to go where I have never been before
and eat and drink where I have never done before!'
she would lift her hind leg
after she had well and firmly planted her fore leg
and would go to that place
where she had never been before,
eat of the grasses
she had not eaten of before,
drink of the waters
she bad not drunk of before
and would return safely whence she came.
And why?
It is because that mountain-bred cow was wise and intelligent,
endowed with pasture-sense
and good at roaming the rugged mountains.
■
In just the same way, monks,
a wise, intelligent monk,
possessing pasture-sense,
skilled in entering and abiding in the first musing
aloof from sense desires,
aloof from evil ideas,
enters and abides in the first musing,
wherein applied and sustained thought works,
which is born of solitude
and is full of zest and ease,
practises,
makes become,
develops and fixes the sign thereof,
so that it is well fixed;
and thinks:
■
'What if, after suppressing applied and sustained thought,
I were to enter and abide in the second musing,
which is self-evolved,
born of concentration,
full of zest and ease,
free from applied and sustained thought,
wherein the mind becomes calm and one-pointed!'
And [283] without confounding[7] the second musing,
suppressing applied and sustained thought,
he enters and abides in the second musing
which is self-evolved,
born of concentration,
full of zest and ease,
free from applied and sustained thought,
wherein the mind becomes calm and one-pointed
and he practises,
makes become,
develops and fixes the sign thereof,
so that it is well fixed.
■
Then he thinks:
'What if free from the fervour of zest,
mindful and self-possessed,
I were to enter and abide in the third musing,
and experience in my being
that ease whereof the Ariyans declare:
"He that is tranquil and mindful dwells at ease."'
And without confounding the third musing,
free from the fervour of zest,
mindful and self-possessed,
he enters and abides in the third musing,
and experience in his being
that ease whereof the Ariyans declare:
'He that is tranquil and mindful dwells at ease',
and he practises,
makes become,
develops and fixes the sign thereof,
so that it is well fixed.
■
Then he thinks:
'What if by putting away ease
and by putting away ill,
by the passing away of happiness and misery
I was wont to feel,
I were to enter and abide in the fourth musing,
which is utter purity of mindfulness and poise
and is free of ease and ill.'
And without confounding the fourth musing,
by putting away ease
and by putting away ill,
by the passing away of happiness and misery
he was wont to feel,
he enters and abides in the fourth musing,
which is utter purity of mindfulness and poise
and is free of ease and ill,
and he practises,
makes become,
develops and fixes the sign thereof,
so that it is well fixed.
■
Then he thinks:
'What if by passing wholly beyond perceptions of form,
by the passing away of the perceptions of sense-reactions,
unattentive to the perceptions of the manifold,
I were to enter and abide in the sphere of infinite space, thinking:
"Space is infinite".'
And without confounding the sphere of infinate space,
by passing wholly beyond perceptions of form,
by the passing away of the perceptions of sense-reactions,
unattentive to the perceptions of the manifold,
he enters and abides in the sphere of infinite space,
thinking:
'Space is infinite,'
and he practises,
makes become,
develops and fixes the sign thereof,
so that it is well fixed.
■
Then he thinks:
'What if passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite space,
I were to enter and abide in the sphere of infinite consciousness, thinking:
"Consciousness is infinite."'
And without confounding the sphere of infinate consciousness,
passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite space,
he enters and abides in the sphere of infinite consciousness, thinking:
'Consciousness is infinite,'
and he practises,
makes become,
develops and fixes the sign thereof,
so that it is well fixed.
■
Then he thinks:
'What if passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite consciousness,
I were to enter and abide in the sphere of nothingness, thinking:
"There is nothing."'
And without confounding the sphere of nothingness,
passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite consciousness,
he enters and abides in the sphere of nothingness, thinking:
'There is nothing,'
and he practises,
makes become,
develops and fixes the sign thereof,
so that it is well fixed.
■
Then he thinks:
'What if Passing wholly beyond the sphere of nothingness,
I were to enter and abide in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception.'[8]
And without confounding the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception,
passing wholly beyond the sphere of nothingness,
he enters and abides in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception
and he practises,
makes become,
develops and fixes the sign thereof,
so that it is well fixed.
■
Then he thinks:
What if passing wholly beyond the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception,
I were to enter and abide in the ending of perception and feeling.
And without confounding the ending of perception and feeling,
passing wholly beyond the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception,
he enters and abides in the ending of perception and feeling.
§
Verily, monks, when a monk both attains to
and emerges from
just that attainment,
his mind becomes subtle,
pliant;
and with his mind subtle,
pliant,
boundless concentration[9] is well made become;
and with boundless concentration well made become,
he bends the mind to the realization by psychic knowledge
of whatever condition is realizable by psychic knowledge' —
he acquires the ability of an eyewitness,[10]
whatever the range may be.
■
Should he wish:
'I would experience psychic power in manifold modes -|| ||
being one, I would become many;
being many, I would become one,[11]
I would become visible or invisible;
I would go without let through walls,
through fences,
through mountains,
as if they were but air;
I would dive in and out of the earth,
as if it were but water;
I would walk on water without parting it,
as if it were earth;
I would travel cross-legged through the air,
as a bird on the wing;
I would handle and stroke the moon and the sun,
though they be so powerful and strong;
I would scale the heights of the world even in this body' —
he acquires the ability of an eyewitness,
in every case,
whatever the range may be.
■
[284] Should he wish:
'I would with the deva ear
purified and surpasssing that of men,
hear sounds both of devas and mankind,
both far and near' —
he acquires the ability of an eyewitness,
whatever the range may be.
■
Should he wish:
'Compassing mind with mind,
I would know with my mind
the thoughts of other beings, other persons;
I would know the passionate mind as such,
the mind free therefrom as such;
I would know the malignant mind as such,
the mind free therefrom as such;
I would kinow the infatuated mind as such,
the mind free therefrom as such;
I would know the congested mind as such,
the mind free therefrom as such;
I would know the diffuse mind as such,
the mind free therefrom as such;
I would know the lofty mind as such,
the low mind as such;
I would know the better mind as such,
the inferior mind as such;
I would know the controlled mind as such,
the uncontrolled as such;
I wold know the liberated mind as such,
the mind not freed as such,' —
he acquires the ability of an eyewitness,
whatever the range may be.
■
Should he wish:
'I would recall many a dwelling-place of bygone days,
one birth, or two, or three, or four, or five,
or ten, or twenty, or thirty, or forty, or fifty,
or a hundred, or a thousand, or a hundred thousand,
or many an age of rolling on,
or many an age of rolling back,
or many an age of both rolling on and rolling back -
such an one I was by name,
of such a clan,
of such a caste,
such was my food,
such my experience of weal and woe,
such was the end of my life.
Passing away thence,
I arose in such a place.
There, such was my name,
such my clan,
such my caste,
such my food,
such my experience of weal and woe,
such my end.
Passing away from there,
I arose here.
Thus many a previous dwelling
he calls to mind
with its circumstances and details' —
he acquires the ability of an eyewitness,
whatever the range may be.
■
Or:
'I would with the deva eye,
purified and surpassing the human eye,
see and know beings
in course of faring on -
beings lowly and exalted,
beautiful and ugly,
happy and in woe,
according to their deeds.
Thinking:
"These worthies were given over to evil practices
in act, word and thought,
were revilers of the Ariyans,
holders of wrong views,
men who have acquired this karma
from wrong views;
and on the breaking up of the body after death,
have arisen in the untoward way,
the ill way,
the abyss,
hell.
But these good sirs behaved rightly
in act, word and thought,
were no revilers of the Ariyans,
held right views
and have acquired this karma therefrom;
and on the breaking up of the body after death,
have arisen in the blissful heaven world."
Thus with the deva-eye purified and surpassing the human eye,
I would see and know beings
in course of faring on -
beings lowly and exalted,
beautiful and ugly,
happy and in woe,
according to their deeds' —
he acquires the ability of an eyewitness,
whatever the range may be.
Or:
Should he wish:
'Having destroyhed the cankers
I would enter and abide in the cankerless mind-emancipation,
wisdom-emancipation,
here and now,
realizing it myself by knowledge' —
he acquires the ability of an eyewitness,
whatever the range may be.
[1] The first half of this sutta is quoted at Vism. 154, trsl. 176.
[2] Akhettaññū, this compound in the same phrase recurs at A. iii, 384; Comy., ad loc., khettaṃ ajānanta; at J. iv, 371 it is of alms. In the Pali-Buddhist way, we might pun: common-sense!
[3] Sotthinā. Vism. trsl. easily.
[4] The text reads: tattha hi for tathā hi, as on the next page and at Vism., loc. cit.
[5] Taṃ nimittaṃ. Comy. taṃ paṭhamajjhānasankhātaṃ nimittaṃ. See Manual of a Mystic 2, Vism. trsl. 145, 196. It is the mental reflex of the device taken for inducing self-hypnotism in Jhāna (musing). 'When, after being contemplated, it (the device or kasiṇa-object) is depicted to the imagination, the image, which is an exact copy of the original with all its faults, is represented to the mind as a vivid reality, as if it were seen by the eye,' Cpd. 54.
[6] Bhaṭṭho.
Jeremiah i, 17: "Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them."
-KJV
— p.p.
[7] Dutiyaṃ jhānaṃ anabhihiṇsamāno, v.l. -hisamāno. Comy. (Hewa. ed.) both, and, anasādhento, glossing: apoṭhento, aviheṭhento. I take it from √hiṇs (cf. the use of 'confounding' at Jeremiah i, 17!) P.E.D. reads, abhihaṇsamāno from√h.r.s, see s.v. abhihaṇsati, cf. nābhihaṇsati at S. v. 74 and K.S. v. 61, 'does not thrill at'; C.P.D. does not notice any of our readings. Vism. unfortunately does not quote this passage. S.e. of text -hiṇsa-; if we read -haṇsa-, we could translate: 'without boggling at'? Possibly we may connect with bhaṭṭho and construct a reading, ahhassamāno; cf. Mil. 82, 'without falling at.'
[8] The text repeats almost in full. [Ed.: Expanded here]
[9] Comy. observes this concentration is of the four God-states and fruits of the Way; hut cf. G.S. iii, 17.
[10] Sakkhi-bhabbatā, the possibilities of an eyewitness.
[11] The text does not repeat in full; see G.S. iii, 12; Dial. iii, 257; K.S. ii, 143; above, p. 121 ff.
[Ed.: AN 8.11 for knowledge of past lives and the celestial eye;
[AN 7.52] for emancipation from the āsavas.
Hare's translation from G.S. iii, 12 [AN 5.23] has been used for the Psychic Powers.
