Sick (a)

[1][bodh][than][piya] THUS have I heard:

Once the Exalted One was staying near Rājagaha
in Bamboo Grove
at the Squirrels' Feeding-ground.

Now at that time the venerable Kassapa the Great was staying in Pepper Tree Grotto,^[1]
and was sick,
afflicted,
stricken with a sore disease.

Then the Exalted One,
rising from his solitude at eventide,
went to visit the venerable Kassapa the Great,
and on coming to him
sat down on a seat made ready.

So the Exalted One as he sat
said to the venerable Kassapa the Great:

"Well, Kassapa, I hope you are bearing up.

I hope you are enduring.

Do your pains abate
and not increase?

Are there signs of their abating
and not increasing?"^[2]

"No, lord.

I am not bearing up.

I am not enduring.

Strong pains come upon me.

There is no sign of their abating,
but of their increasing."^[3]

[67] "Kassapa, these seven limbs of wisdom
fully expounded by myself,
when cultivated
and made much of,
conduce to full comprehension,
to wisdom,
to Nibbāna.

What seven?

The limb of wisdom, Kassapa, that is mindfulness,
fully expounded by myself,
when cultivated
and made much of,
conduce to full comprehension,
to wisdom,
to Nibbāna.

The limb of wisdom that is investigation of the Norm,
fully expounded by myself,
when cultivated
and made much of,
conduce to full comprehension,
to wisdom,
to Nibbāna.

The limb of wisdom that is energy,
fully expounded by myself,
when cultivated
and made much of,
conduce to full comprehension,
to wisdom,
to Nibbāna.

The limb of wisdom that is tranquillity,
fully expounded by myself,
when cultivated
and made much of,
conduce to full comprehension,
to wisdom,
to Nibbāna.

The limb of wisdom that is concentration,
fully expounded by myself,
when cultivated
and made much of,
conduce to full comprehension,
to wisdom,
to Nibbāna.

The limb of wisdom that is equanimity,
fully expounded by myself,
when cultivated
and made much of,
conduce to full comprehension,
to wisdom,
to Nibbāna.

These seven limbs of wisdom, Kassapa,
fully expounded by myself,
if cultivated,
and made much of,
conduce to full comprehension,
to wisdom,
to Nibbāna."

"Verily, lord, they are limbs of wisdom!

Verily, O Happy One, they are limbs of wisdom!"

Thus spake the Exalted One,
and the venerable Kassapa the Great was delighted thereat,
and took pleasure in what was said by the Exalted One.

And the venerable Kassapa the Great
rose up from that sickness.

There and then
that sickness of the venerable Kassapa the Great
was abandoned.

^[1] Cf. Ud. i, 4; UdA. 59; DhpA. 427.

^[2] K.S. iii, 102 n. (sānaṇ-etesaṇ. Comy.).

^[3] A good example of the reduction to formulae. Cf. S. iii, 119; iv, 46 = K.S. iv, 23, 30. It seems unlikely that on such an occasion the Master would thus expound to this old follower teachings which he must have known by heart. In this Collection the sick man is generally introduced to serve as an occasion for emphasizing a fresh doctrine. Comy. adds: 'He had (it is said) carefully listened to this teaching about the seven limbs of wisdom, and seven days from his taking the robes he penetrated the truth about them, and they were manifested to him. Now, as he pondered on the profit of the Master's teaching, his blood was calmed, his system purified, and the sickness fell away like a drop of water from a lotus leaf.'

Saṃyutta Nikāya 5. Mahā-Vagga 46. Bojjhanga Saṃyutta 2. Gilāna Vagga

The Book of the Kindred Sayings 5. The Great Chapter 46. Kindred Sayings on the Limbs of Wisdom 2. The Sick Man

Sutta 14

Paṭhama Gilanā Suttaṃ

Sick (a)

Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
46. Bojjhanga Saṃyutta
2. Gilāna Vagga

The Book of the Kindred Sayings
5. The Great Chapter
46. Kindred Sayings on the Limbs of Wisdom
2. The Sick Man