Aṇguttara Nikāya
IX. Navaka Nipāta
V. Pañcāla Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
IX. The Book of the Nines
V. The Pañcāla Chapter

Sutta 42

Pañcāla Suttaṃ aka Sambādha Suttaṃ

Pañcālacaṇḍa

Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.

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[295]

[1][than] Thus have I heard:

Once, when the venerable Ānanda was dwelling near Kosambī in Ghosita Park,
the venerable Udāyin^[1] visited him
[296] and, after exchanging the usual polite talk,
sat down at one side.

And so seated, he said to the venerable Ānanda:

"This, reverend sir, was said by the deva,^[2] Pañcālacaṇḍa:

'From noose escape he found, quick sage,^[3] who woke
To musing - wakened, seer, adept, withdrawn.'

Now what, sir, is the noose
and what the way of escape
declared by the Exalted One?"

 

§

 

"These five stands of sense desire, reverend sir,
are called the noose by the Exalted One.

What five?

Forms cognized by the eye,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire;

■

sounds cognized by the ear,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire;

■

smells by the nose,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire;

■

tastes by the tongue,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire;

■

contacts by the touch,
longed for,
alluring,
pleasurable,
lovely,
bound up with passion and desire -

these five strands of sense desire
are called the noose by the Exalted One.

 

§

 

Consider, reverend sir, the monk who,
aloof from sense desires,
aloof from evil ideas,
he 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 -
thus far, reverend sir,
and in one particular^[4]
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.

■

But there, too, is a noose;
and what is it there?

In so far as thought applied and sustained is not ended,
that there is the noose.

■

Now consider, sir, the monk who
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 -
thus far, reverend sir,
and in one particular
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.

■

But there, too, is a noose;
and what is it there?

In so far as the fervour of zest is not ended,
that there is the noose.

■

Free from the fervour of zest,
mindful and self-possessed,
he enters and abides in the third musing,
and experiences in his being
that ease whereof the Ariyans declare:
"He that is tranquil and mindful dwells at ease," -
thus far, reverend sir,
and in one particular
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.

■

But there, too, is a noose;
and what is it there?

In so far as the ease and ill,
happiness and misery is not ended,
that there is the noose.

■

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 -
thus far, reverend sir,
and in one particular
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.

■

But there, too, is a noose;
and what is it there?

In so far as perception of form is not ended,
that there is the noose.

■

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' -
thus far, reverend sir,
and in one particular
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.

■

But there, too, is a noose;
and what is it there?

In so far as the sphere of infinite space is not ended,
that there is the noose.

■

Passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite space,
he enters and abides in the sphere of infinite consciousness, thinking:
'Consciousness is infinite' -
thus far, reverend sir,
and in one particular
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.

■

But there, too, is a noose;
and what is it there?

In so far as the sphere of infinite consciousness is not ended,
that there is the noose.

■

Passing wholly beyond the sphere of infinite consciousness,
he enters and abides in the sphere of nothingness, thinking:
'There is nothing' -
thus far, reverend sir,
and in one particular
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.

■

But there, too, is a noose;
and what is it there?

In so far as the sphere of nothingness is not ended,
that there is the noose.

■

Passing wholly beyond the sphere of nothingness,
he enters and abides in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception -
thus far, reverend sir,
and in one particular
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.

■

But there, too, is a noose;
and what is it there?

In so far as the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception is not ended,
that there is the noose.

■

Passing wholly beyond the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception,
he enters and abides in the ending of perception and feeling
and sees by wisdom that the cankers are completely destroyed -
thus far and with no (further) particular^[5]
did the Exalted One declare a way of escape from the noose.'

 

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^[1] Comy. Kāḷudāyin; see above, p. 286.

^[2] Devaputta; but at D. iii, 205, he is called yakkha, whose help may be invoked; cf. Dial. iii, 196 and 267. His verses recur at S. i, 48; see K.S. i, 69 for a different rendering.

^[3] Bhūri-medhaso; bhūri (from √bhū, to become) is the earth, so, vast; or perhaps fertile, alive; cf. 'quick spirit,' Julius Caesar I, ii, 29, and 'quick understanding,' Isaiah xi, 3. Cf. also √bhur.

^[4] Pariyāyena. Comy. ekena kāraṇena.

^[5] Nippariyāyena. The text repeats much. [Ed. all abbreviated sections recreated here.]