Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
55. Sot'Āpatti Saṃyutta
3. Saraṇāni (or Sarakāni) Vagga
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
5. The Great Chapter
55. Kindred Sayings on Streamwinning
3. Sarakāni[1]
Sutta 21
Paṭhama Mahānāma Suttaṃ
Mahānāma (a)
Translated by F. L. Woodward
Edited by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved
For details see Terms of Use.
[1][than][olds] Thus have I heard:
On a certain occasion the Exalted One was staying among the Sakyans
near Kapilavatthu,
in the Banyan Park.
Now Mahānāma[2] the Sakyan came to see the Exalted One,
and on coming to him
saluted him
and sat down at one side.
As he thus sat
Mahānāma the Sakyan said this to the Exalted One:
"Lord, this town of Kapilavatthu is rich,
prosperous, populous,
crowded with men,[3]
a dense mass of folk.[4]
Now, lord, when I enter Kapilavatthu at eventide
after waiting upon the Exalted One
or the worshipful monks,
I meet with elephants,
horses, chariots,
carts and men,
all swaying and rolling along.[5]
At such times, lord, my thoughts,
which are fixed on the Exalted One,
on the Norm and the Order,
are simply bewildered.
Then it occurs to me:
'If I were at this very moment to make an end,
what would be my lot,
what would be my destiny
in the life to come?'"
"Have no fears, Mahānāma!
Have no fears, Mahānāma!
Blameless will be your death.
You will make a blameless end.
For he whose mind, Mahānāma,
has for a long time been practiced in faith,
in virtue,
in learning,
in giving up and insight,
— though this material body of his,
of the four elements compounded,
from parents sprung,
of a nature to be worn away,
pounded away,
broken and scattered,[6]
though this body be devoured by crows and vultures,
devoured by [321] kites and dogs,
— yet his mind,
if longtime practiced in faith,
virtue,
learning,
giving up
and insight,
the mind soars aloft,
the mind wins the summit.[7]
Suppose, Mahānāma,
a man plunges a jar of butter
or a jar of oil
into a deep, deep pool of water,[8]
and breaks it,
and it becomes shards or fragments,
and sinks down to the bottom;
but the butter or oil that is in it
floats up and reaches the surface,
— just so, Mahānāma,
if the mind has long been practiced in faith
virtue,
learning,
giving up
and insight,
— though this material body,
of the four elements compounded,
from parents sprung,
of a nature to be worn away,
pounded away,
broken and scattered,
though this body be devoured by crows and vultures,
devoured by kites and dogs,
— yet his mind,
if longtime practiced in faith,
virtue,
learning,
giving up
and insight,
the mind soars aloft,
the mind wins the summit.
Now your mind, Mahānāma,
has long been practiced in faith,
virtue,
learning,
giving up
and insight.
Have no fear, Mahānāma!
Have no fear, Mahānāma!
Blameless will be your death.
You will make an end that is blameless."
[1] Or Saraṇāni (text), the name of a Sakayan, gives the title to this chapter and §4.
[2] For Mahānāma, cf. text, 327, 371, etc.
[3] For these phrases, cf. D. i, 211; S. ii, 106; Mil. Pañh., 130.
[4] Sambādha-byūhaṇ. Comy. anibbiddha-racchāyo sā paviṭṭha-maggen' eva nigacchati.
[5] Bhantena (fr. bhamati); text misprints in each case bhante na (as if it were 'lord, not').
[6] Cf. K.S. iv, 50 n.
[7] Uddhaṇgāmī, visesa-gāmī.
[8] Cf. the same simile at K.S. iv, 218.
