DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
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DÎGHA NIKÂYA.
[COLLECTION OF LONG DIALOGUES.]
I. BRAHMA-GÂLA SUTTA{1}.
[THE PERFECT NET.]
I. 1. Thus have I heard. The Blessed One was once going along the high road between Râgagaha and Nâlandâ{2} with a great company of the brethren, with about five hundred brethren. And Suppiya the mendicant{3} too was going along the high road between Râgagaha and Nâlandâ with his disciple the youth Brahmadatta. Now just then Suppiya the mendicant was speaking in many ways in dispraise of the Buddha, in dispraise of the Doctrine, in dispraise of the Order. But young Brahmadatta, his pupil, gave utterance, in many ways, to praise of the Buddha, to praise of the Doctrine, to praise of the Order. Thus they two, teacher and pupil, holding opinions in direct contradiction one to the other, were following, step by
{1. The whole of this Sutta was translated into English by the Rev. Daniel Gogerly, Wesleyan missionary in Ceylon, in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1846 (reprinted by P. Grimblot in his 'Sept Suttas Pâlis,' Paris, 1876).
2. Nâlandâ, afterwards the seat of the famous Buddhist university, was about seven miles north of Râgagaha, the capital of Magadha, the modern Rag-gir (Sum. p. 35).
3. Suppiya was a follower of the celebrated teacher Sañgaya, whose views are set out and controverted in the next Sutta.}
step, after the Blessed One and the company of the brethren.
2. Now the Blessed One put up at the royal rest-house in the Ambalatthikâ pleasance{l} to pass the night, and with him the company of the brethren. And so also did Suppiya the mendicant, and with him his young disciple Brahmadatta. And there, at the rest-house, these two carried on the same discussion as before.
[2] 3. And in the early dawn a number of the brethren assembled, as they rose up, in the pavilion; and this was the trend of the talk that sprang up among them, as they were seated there. 'How wonderful a thing is it, brethren, and how strange that the Blessed One, he who knows and sees, the Arahat, the Buddha Supreme, should so clearly have perceived how various are the inclinations of men! For see how while Suppiya the mendicant speaks in many ways in dispraise of the Buddha, the Doctrine, and the Order, his own disciple young Brahmadatta, speaks, in as many ways, in praise of them. So do these two, teacher and pupil, follow step by step after the Blessed One and the company of the brethren, giving utterance to views in direct contradiction one to the other.'
4. Now the Blessed One, on realising what was the drift of their talk, went to the pavilion, and took his seat on the mat spread out for him. And when he had sat down he said: 'What is the talk on which you are engaged sitting here, and what is the subject of the conversation between you?' And they told him all. And he said:
{1. Ambalatthikâ, 'the mango sapling.' It was, says Buddhaghosa (pp. 41, 42), a well-watered and shady park so called from a mango sapling by the gateway. It was surrounded with a rampart, and had in it a rest-house adorned with paintings for the king's amusement.
There was another garden so named at Anârddhapura in Ceylon, to the east of the Brazen Palace (Sum. I, 131). This was so named, no doubt, after the other which was famous as the scene of the 'Exhortation to Râhula starting with falsehood,' mentioned in Asoka's Bhabra Edict (see my 'Buddhism,' pp. 224, 225).}
5. 'Brethren, if outsiders should speak against me, or against the Doctrine, [3] or against the Order, you should not on that account either bear malice, or suffer heart-burning, or feel illwill. If you, on that account, should be angry and hurt, that would stand in the way of your own self-conquest. If, when others speak against us, you feel angry at that, and displeased, would you then be able to judge how far that speech of theirs is well said or ill?'
'That would not be so, Sir.'
'But when outsiders speak in dispraise of me, or of the Doctrine, or of the Order, you should unravel what is false and point it out as wrong, saying: "For this or that reason this is not the fact, that is not so, such a thing is not found among us, is not in us."
6. 'But also, brethren, if outsiders should speak in praise of me, in praise of the Doctrine, in praise of the Order, you should not, on that account, be filled with pleasure or gladness, or be lifted up in heart. Were you to be so that also would stand in the way of your self-conquest. When outsiders speak in praise of me, or of the Doctrine, or of the Order, you should acknowledge what is right to be the fact, saying: "For this or that reason this is the fact, that is so, such a thing is found among us, is in us."
7. 'It is in respect only of trifling things, of matters of little value, of mere morality, that an unconverted man, when praising the Tathâgata, would speak. And what are such trifling, minor details of mere morality that he would praise?'
[4] [THE MORALITIES{1}. PART I.]
8. '"Putting away the killing of living things, Gotama the recluse holds aloof from the destruction
{1. These titles occur, in the MSS., at the end of the sections of the tract that now follows. It forms a part of each of the Suttas in the first division, the first third, of this collection of Suttas. The division is called therefore the Sîla Vagga or Section containing the Sîlas. The tract itself must almost certainly have existed as a separate work before the time when the discourses, in each of which it recurs, were first put together.
Certain paragraphs from this tract occur also elsewhere. So in Magghima I, 179 we have the whole of the short paragraphs; in Magghima, Nos. 76 and 77, and in Mahâvagga V, 8, 3, we have § 17; in Magghima II, 3 we have most of § 18; and so on. The whole of this tract has been translated into English by Gogerly (in Grimblot, see page 1, note), into French by Burnouf (also in Grimblot, pp. 212 foll.), and into German by Dr. Neumann (in his Buddhistische Anthologie, pp. 67 foll.).}
of life. He has laid the cudgel and the sword aside, and ashamed of roughness, and full of mercy, he dwells compassionate and kind to all creatures that have life." It is thus that the unconverted man, when speaking in praise of the Tathâgata, might speak{1}.
'Or he might say: "Putting away the taking of what has not been given, Gotama the recluse lived aloof from grasping what is not his own. He takes only what is given, and expecting that gifts will come{2}, he passes his life in honesty and purity of heart."
'Or he might say: "Putting away unchastity, Gotama the recluse is chaste. He holds himself aloof, far off, from the vulgar practice, from the sexual act{3}."
9. 'Or he might say: "Putting away lying words, Gotama the recluse holds himself aloof from falsehood. He speaks truth, from the truth he never swerves; faithful and trustworthy, he breaks not his word to the world."
'Or he might say: "Putting away slander, Gotama the recluse holds himself aloof from calumny. What he hears here he repeats not elsewhere to raise a quarrel
{1. This refrain is repeated at the end of each clause. When the Sîlas recur below, in each Sutta, the only difference is in the refrain. See, for instance, the translation of p. 100 in the text.
2. Neumann has 'waiting for a gift' which is a possible rendering: but pâtikankhati has not yet been found elsewhere in the sense of 'waiting for.' The usual meaning of the word expresses just such a trifling matter as we have been led, from the context, to expect.
3. Gâma-dhammâ, 'from the village habit, the practice of country folk, the "pagan" way.' One might render the phrase by 'pagan' if that word had not acquired, in English, a slightly different connotalion. It is the opposite of porî, urbane (applied to speech, below, § 9). Dr. Neumann misses the point here, but has 'höflich' below.}
against the people here; what he hears elsewhere he repeats not here to raise a quarrel against the people there. Thus does he live as a binder together of those who are divided, an encourager of those who are friends, a peacemaker, a lover of peace, impassioned for peace, a speaker of words that make for peace."
'Or he might say: "Putting away rudeness of speech, Gotama the recluse holds himself aloof from harsh language. Whatsoever word is blameless, pleasant to the ear, lovely, reaching to the heart, urbane{1}, pleasing to the people, beloved of the people--such are words he speaks."
'Or he might say: "Putting away frivolous talk{2}, Gotama the recluse holds himself aloof from vain conversation. In season he speaks, in accordance with the facts, words full of meaning, on religion, on the discipline of the Order. He speaks, and at the right time, words worthy to be laid up in one's heart, [5] fitly illustrated, clearly divided, to the point."
10. 'Or he might say: "Gotama the recluse holds himself aloof from causing injury to seeds or plants{3}.
He takes but one meal a day, not eating at night, refraining from food after hours (after midday).
He refrains from being a spectator at shows at fairs, with nautch dances, singing, and music.
He abstains from wearing, adorning, or ornamenting himself with garlands, scents, and unguents.
He abstains from the use of large and lofty beds.
He abstains from accepting silver or gold.
He abstains from accepting uncooked grain.
He abstains from accepting raw meat.
He abstains from accepting women or girls.
He abstains from accepting bondmen or bondwomen.
{1. Porî. See note above on § 8.
2. Sampha-ppalâpa. Sampha occurs alone in the Hemavata Sutta, and at Gât. VI, 295; A. II, 23.
3. Samârambhâ cannot mean 'planting' as Dr. Neumann renders it.}
He abstains from accepting sheep or goats.
He abstains from accepting fowls or swine.
He abstains from accepting elephants, cattle, horses, and mares.
He abstains from accepting cultivated fields or waste.
He abstains from the acting as a go-between or messenger.
He abstains from buying and selling.
He abstains from cheating with scales or bronzes{1} or measures.
He abstains from the crooked ways of bribery, cheating, and fraud.
He abstains from maiming, murder, putting in bonds, highway robbery, dacoity, and violence."
'Such are the things, brethren, which an unconverted man, when speaking in praise of the Tathâgata, might say.'
Here ends the Kûla Sîla [the Short Paragraphs on Conduct].
11. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the injury of seedlings and growing plants whether propagated from roots or cuttings or joints or buddings or seeds{2}--Gotama the
{1. Kamsa-kûta. The context suggests that kamsa (bronze) may here refer to coins, just as we say in English 'a copper,' and the word is actually so used in the 11th and 12th Bhikkhunî Nissaggiya Rules--the oldest reference in Indian books to coins. The most ancient coins, which were of private (not state) coinage, were either of bronze or gold. Buddhaghosa (p. 79) explains the expression here used as meaning the passing off of bronze vessels as gold. Gogerly translates 'weights,' Childers sub voce has 'counterfeit metal,' and Neumann has 'Maass.' Buddhaghosa is obliged to take kamsa in the meaning of 'gold pot,' which seems very forced; and there is no authority for kamsa meaning either weight or mass. On the whole the coin explanation seems to me to be the simplest.
2. Buddhaghosa gives examples of each of these five classes of the vegetable kingdom without explaining the terms. But it is only the fourth which is doubtful. It may mean 'graftings,' if the art of grafting was then known in the Ganges valley.}
recluse holds aloof from such injury to seedlings and growing plants."
12. [6] 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the use of things stored up; stores, to wit, of foods, drinks, clothing, equipages, bedding, perfumes, and curry-stuffs{1}--Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such use of things stored up."
13. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to visiting shows{2}; that is to say,
(1) Nautch dances (nakkam){3}.(2) Singing of songs (gîtam).
(3) Instrumental music (vâditam).
(4) Shows at fairs (pekkham){4}.
{1. Âmisa. Buddhaghosa (p. 83) gives a long list of curry-stuffs included under this term. If he is right then Gogerly's 'raw grain' is too limited a translation, and Neumann's 'all sorts of articles to use' too extensive. In its secondary meaning the word means 'something nice, a relish, a dainty.'
2. Visûka-dassanam. This word has only been found elsewhere in the phrase ditthi-visûkam, 'the puppet shows of heresy' (Magghima I, pp. 8, 486; and Serissaka Vimâna LXXXIV, 26). The Sinhalese renders it wiparîta-darsana.
3. Dancing. cannot mean here a dancing in which the persons referred to took part. It must be ballet or nautch dancing.
4. Literally 'shows.' This word; only found here, has always been rendered 'theatrical representations.' Clough first translated it so in his Sinhalese Dictionary, p. 665, and he was followed by Gogerly, Burnouf, myself (in 'Buddhist Suttas,' p. 192), and Dr. Neumann (p. 69),--and Weber (Indian Literature, pp. 199, 319) seems to approve this. But it is most unlikely that the theatre was already known in the fifth century B.C. And Buddhaghosa (p. 84) explains it, quite simply, as nata-samaggâ. Now samaggo is a very interesting old word (at least in its Pâli form). The Sanskrit samagyâ, according to the Petersburg Dictionary, has only been found in modern dictionaries. The Pâli occurs in other old texts such as Vinaya II, 107; IV, 267 (both times in the very same context as it does here); ibid. II, 150; IV, 85; Sigâlovada Sutta, p. 300; and it is undoubtedly the same word as samâga in the first of the fourteen Edicts of Asoka. In the Sigâlovada there are said to be six dangers at such a samaggo; to wit, dancing, singing, music, recitations, conjuring tricks, and acrobatic shows. And in the Vinaya passages we learn that at a samaggo not only amusements but also food was provided; that high officials were invited, and had special seats; and that it took place at the top of a hill. This last detail of 'high places' (that is sacred places) points to a religious motive as underlying the whole procedure. The root ag ({Greek ágo}, ago, whence our 'act') belongs to the stock of common Aryan roots, and means carrying on. What was the meaning of this 'carrying on together'? Who were the people who took part? Were they confined to one village? or have we here a survival from old exogamic communistic dancings together? Later the word means simply 'fair,' as at Gâtaka III, 541:
'Many the bout I have played with quarterstaves at the fair,' with which Gâtaka I, 394 may be compared. And it is no doubt this side of the festival which is here in the mind of the author; but 'fair' is nevertheless a very inadequate rendering. The Sinhalese has 'rapid movement in dance-figures' (ranga-mandalu).}
(5) Ballad recitations (akkhânam){1}.(6) Hand music (pânissaram){2}.
(7) The chanting of bards (vetâlam){3}.
(8) Tam-tam playing (kumbhathûnam){4}.
{1. These ballad recitations in prose and verse combined were the source from which epic poetry was afterwards gradually developed. Buddhaghosa has no explanation of the word, but gives as examples the Bhârata and the Râmâyana. The negative anakkhânam occurs Magghima I, 503.
2. Buddhaghosa explains this as 'playing on cymbals'; and adds that it is also called pânitâlam. The word is only found here and at Gâtaka V, 506, and means literally 'hand-sounds.'
3. Buddhaghosa says 'deep music, but some say raising dead bodies to life by spells.' His own explanation is, I think, meant to be etymological; and to show that he derives the word from vi+tâla. This would bring the word into connection with the Sanskrit vaitâlika, 'royal bard.' The other explanation connects the word with vetâla, 'a demon,' supposed to play pranks (as in the stories of the Vetâla-pañka-vimsati) by reanimating corpses. Dr. Neumann adopts it. But it does not agree so well with the context; and it seems scarcely justifiable to see, in this ancient list, a reference to beliefs which can only be traced in literature more than a thousand years later. Gogerly's rendering 'funeral ceremonies,' which I previously followed, seems to me now quite out of the question.
4. It is clear from Gâtaka V, 506 that this word means a sort of music. And at Vinaya IV, 285 kumbhathûnikâ are mentioned in connection with dancers, acrobats, and hired mourners. Buddhaghosa is here obscure and probably corrupt, and the derivation is quite uncertain. Gogerly's guess seems better than Burnouf's or Neumann's. The Sinhalese has 'striking a drum big enough to hold sixteen gallons.'}
(9) Fairy scenes (Sobhanagarakam){1}.(10) Acrobatic feats by Kandâlas(Kandâla-vamsa-dhopanam){2}.
(11) Combats of elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, goats, rams, cocks, and quails.
(12) Bouts at quarter-staff{3}, boxing, wrestling{4}.
(13-16) Sham-fights, roll-calls, manreuvres, reviews{5}.--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from visiting such shows."
14. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to games and recreations{6}; that is to say,
(1) Games on boards with eight, or with ten, rows of squares{7}.(2) The same games
{1. Buddhaghosa seems to understand by this term (literally 'of Sobha city ) the adornments or scenery used for a ballet-dance. (Patibhâna-kittam at Vinaya II, 151; IV, 61, 298, 358; Sum. I, 42 is the nude in art.) Weber has pointed out (Indische Studien, II, 38; III, 153) that Sobha is a city of the Gandharvas, fairies much given to music and love-making. It is quite likely that the name of a frequently used scene for a ballet became a proverbial phrase for all such scenery. But the Sinhalese has 'pouring water over the heads of dancers, or nude paintings.'
2. Buddhaghosa takes these three words separately, and so do all the MSS. of the text, and the Sinhalese version. But I now think that the passage at Gâtaka IV, 390 is really decisive, and that we have here one of the rare cases where we can correct our MSS. against the authority of the old commentator. But I follow him in the general meaning he assigns to the strange expression 'Kandâla-bamboo-washings.'
3. See Gâtaka III, 541.
4. Nibbuddham. The verbal form nibbugghati occurs in the list at Vinaya III, 180 (repeated at II, 10); and our word at Milinda 232.
5. All these recur in the introductory story to the 50th Pâkittiya (Vinaya IV, 107). On the last compare Buddhaghosa on Mahâvagga V, 1, 29.
6. All these terms recur at Vinaya III, 180 (repeated at II, 10).
7. Chess played originally on a board of eight times ten squares was afterwards played on one of eight times eight squares. Our text cannot be taken as evidence of real chess in the fifth century B. C., but it certainly refers to games from which it and draughts must have been developed. The Sinhalese Sanna says that each of these games was played with dice and pieces such as kings and so on. The worJ for pieces is poru (from purisa)--just our 'men.'}
played by imagining such boards in the air{1}.(3) Keeping going over diagrams drawn on the ground so that one steps only where one ought to go{2}.
(4) Either removing the pieces or men from a heap with one's nail, or putting them into a heap, in each case without shaking it, He who shakes the heap, loses.
(5) Throwing dice{4}.
(6) Hitting a short stick with a long one{5}.
(7) Dipping the hand with the fingers stretched out in lac, or red dye, or flour-water, and striking the wet hand on the ground or on a wall, calling out 'What shall it be?' and showing the form required--elephants, horses, &c.{6}
(8) Games with balls{7}.
(9) Blowing through toy pipes made of leaves{8}.
(10) Ploughing with toy ploughs{9}.
(11) Turning summersaults{10}.
(12) Playing with toy windmills made of palm-leaves{11}.
{1. Âkâsam. How very like blindfold chess!
2. Parihâra-patham. A kind of primitive 'hop-scotch.' The Sinhalese says the steps must be made hopping.
3. Santikâ. Spellicans, pure and simple.
4. Khalikâ. Unfortunately the method of playing is not stated. Compare Eggeling's note as in his Satapatha-Brâhmana III, 106, 7. In the gambling-scene on the Bharhut Tope (Cunningham, Pl. XLV, No. 9) there is a board marked out on the stone of six times five squares (not six by six), and six little cubes with marks on the sides visible lie on the stone outside the board.
5. Ghatikam. Something like 'tip-cat.' Sim-kelîmaya in Sinhalese.
6. Salâka-hattham. On flour-water as colouring matter, see Gâtaka I, 220.
7. Akkham. The usual meaning is 'a die.' But the Sinhalese translator agrees with Buddhaghosa. Neither gives any details.
8. Pangakîram. The Sinhalese for this toy is 'pat-kulal. Morris in J. P. T. S., 1889, p. 205, compares the Marathî pungî.
9. Vankakam. From Sanskrit vrika. See Journal of the Pâli Text Society, 1889, p. 206.
10. Mokkhakikâ. So the Sinhalese. Buddhaghosa has an alternative explanation of turning over on a trapeze, but gives this also. See Vinaya I, 275, and J. P. T. S., 1885, p. 49.
11. Kingulikam. See Morris in the J. P. T. S., 1885, p. 50, who compares kingulâyitvâ at Anguttara III, 15, 2.}
(13) Playing with toy measures made of palm-leaves.(14, 15) Playing with toy carts or toy bows{1}.
(16) Guessing at letters traced in the air, or on a playfellow's back{2}.
(17) Guessing the playfellow's thoughts.
(18) Mimicry of deformities.
[7] Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such games and recreations."
15. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the use of high and large couches; that is to say{3},
(1) Moveable settees, high, and six feet long (Âsandi){4}.(2) Divans with animal figures carved on the supports (Pallanko){5}.
{1. All these six, from No. 10 inclusive, are mentioned in the Magghima, vol. i, p. 266, as children's games.
2. Akkharikâ. It is important evidence for the date at which writing was known in India that such a game should be known in the fifth century B.C.
3. The following list recurs Vinaya I, 192 = II, 163 = Anguttara I, 181, &c.
4. Âsandî. Buddhaghosa merely says 'a seat beyond the allowed measure,' but that must refer to height, as the only rule as to measure in seats is the 87th Pâkittiya in which the height of beds or chairs is limited to eight 'great' inches (probably about eighteen inches). The Sinhalese Sanna adds 'a long chair for supporting the whole body.' At Gât. I, 208 a man lies down on an âsandî so as to be able to look up and watch the stars. At Dîgha I, 55 = Magghima I, 515 = Samyutta III, 307 (where the reading must be corrected), the âsandî is used as a bier. The âsandî is selected as the right sort of seat for the king in both the Vâgapeya and Inauguration ceremonies because of its height (Eggeling, Sat.-Brâh. III, 35, 105). It is there said to be made of common sorts of wood, and perforated; which probably means that the frame was of wood and the seat was of interlaced cane or wickerwork. The diminutive âsandiko, with short legs and made square (for sitting, not lying on), is allowed in the Buddhist Order by Vinaya II, 149. And even the âsandî is allowed, if the tall legs be cut down, by Vinaya II, 169, 170 (where the reading khinditvâ seems preferable, and is read in the quotation at Sum. I, 88). The renderings 'large cushion' at 'Vinaya Texts,' II, 27 and 'stuffed couch' at III, 209 must be accordingly corrected. Gogerly translates 'large couch,' Burnouf 'une chaise longue,' and Neumann 'bequeme Lehnstuhl.'
5. Pallanko. It is noteworthy that, in spite of the use of a divan with animals carved on its supports being here objected to, it is precisely the sort of seat on which the Buddha himself, or Buddhist personages of distinction, are often, in later sculptures, represented as sitting (Grünwedel, 'Buddhistische kunst,' pp. 111, 124, 137; Mitra, 'Budh Gayâ,' Plates XI, XX, &c. &c.). At Mahâvamsa 25 sîhâsana and pallanko are used of the same seat (Asoka's throne), and sîhâsana is used of Duttha Garnini's throne, ibid. 157. But the Lion throne of Nissanka Malla, found at Pollonnaruwa, is not a pallanko, but an actual stone lion, larger than life size ('Indian Antiquary,' vol. i, p. 135. Compare the similar seat in Grünwedel, p. 95).
By Vinaya II, 170 the possession of a pallanka was allowed to the Order if the animal figures were broken off (the translation in 'Vinaya Texts,' III, 209, must be altered accordingly, reading vâle for vale, as at Vinaya IV, 312). By Vinaya II, 163 it is laid down that members of the Order were not to use a complete pallanko even in laymen's houses, so that Nigrodha's action in the passage just quoted (Mahâvamsa 25) was really a breach of the regulations.}
(3) Goats' hair coverlets with very long fleece (Gonako){1}.(4) Patchwork counterpanes of many colours (Kittakâ).
(5) White blankets (Patikâ).
(6) Woollen coverlets embroidered with flowers (Patalikâ).
(7) Quilts stuffed with cotton wool (Tûlikâ).
(8) Coverlets embroidered with figures of lions, tigers, &c. (Vikatikâ).
(9) Rugs with fur on both sides (Uddalomî).
(10) Rugs with fur on one side (Ekantalomi).
(11) Coverlets embroidered with gems (Katthissam).
(12) Silk coverlets (Koseyyam).
(13) Carpets large enough for sixteen dancers (Kuttakam).
(14-16) Elephant, horse, and chariot rugs.
(17) Rugs of antelope skins sewn together (Agina-paveni).
(18) Rugs of skins of the plantain antelope.
(19) Carpets with awnings
{1. The words from gonako down to katthissam inclusive, and also kuttakam, are found only in this list, and Buddhaghosa seems to be uncertain as to the exact meaning of some of them. All except No. 7 might be used in laymen's houses ('Vinaya Texts: III, 197), and all might be possessed by the Order if used only as floor-coverings (ibid. III, 209); except again No. 7, the cotton wool of which might be utilised for pillows. As there is a doubt about the spelling it may be noticed that the Sanna reads gonakam and uddalomim: and the MS. in the R. A. S. (which repeats each sentence) has gonakam and uddalomim both times.}
above them (Sauttara-kkhadam).(20) Sofas with red pillows for the head and feet."
16. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the use of means for adorning and beautifying themselves; that is to say,--Rubbing in scented powders on one's body, shampooing it, and bathing it. Patting the limbs with clubs after the manner of wrestlers{1}. The use of mirrors, eye-ointments, garlands, rouge, cosmetics, bracelets, necklaces, walking-sticks, reed cases for drugs, rapiers, sunshades, embroidered slippers, turbans, diadems, whisks of the yak's tail, and long-fringed white robes--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such means of adorning and beautifying the person{2}."
17. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to such low conversation as these:
Tales of kings, of robbers, of ministers of state; tales of war, of terrors, of battles; talk about foods and drinks, clothes, beds, garlands, perfumes; talks about relationships, equipages, villages, town, cities, and countries; tales about women [8], and about heroes; gossip at street corners{3}, or places whence
{1. Sambâhanam. Perhaps rubbing the limbs with flat pieces of wood. See Buddhaghosa here and at 'Vinaya Texts,' III, 60.
2. This is not quite accurate. Out of the twenty items here objected to, three (shampooing, bathing, and the use of sunshades) were allowed in the Order, and practised by Gotama himself. Bathrooms, and halls attached to them, are permitted by 'Vinaya Texts,' III, 189; shampooing by ibid. III, 68, 297. There are elaborate regulations for the provision of hot steam baths and the etiquette to be observed in them; and instances of the use of the ordinary bath in streams or rivers are frequent. The use of sunshades is permitted by 'Vinaya Texts,' III, 132-3, and is referred to ibid. III, 88, 274.
3. Visikhâ-kathâ. Buddhaghosa (p. 90) takes this word (literally 'street-talk') in the sense of talk about streets, whether ill or well situate, and whether the inhabitants are bold or poor, &c.}
water is fetched; ghost stories{1}; desultory talk{2}; speculations about the creation of the land or sea{3}, or about existence and non-existence{4}--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low conversation."
18. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to the use of wrangling phrases{5}: such as--
"You don't understand this doctrine and discipline, I do."
"How should you know about this doctrine and discipline?"
"You have fallen into wrong views. It is I who am in the right."
"I am speaking to the point, you are not{6}."
"You are putting last what ought to come first, and first what ought to come last{7}."
"What you've excogitated so long, that's all quite upset."
{1. Pubba-peta-kathâ. The commentator confines this to boasting talk about deceased relatives or ancestors.
2. Nânatta-katham, literally 'difference-talk.' The expression seems somewhat forced, if taken as meaning 'desultory'; but I see no better explanation.
3. Lokakkhâyikâ. Buddhaghosa refers this specially to such speculations as are put forth according to the Lokakkhâyikâ system by the Vitandas (also called Lokâyatikas). These are materialistic theorisers, of whose system very little is, so far, known. See the note at 'Vinaya Texts,' vol. iii, p. 151. I have collected other references to them in my 'Milinda,' vol. i, p. 7; and to these Digha I, 11, 114, 120, and Attha Sâlinî, p. 3, may now be added. They are probably referred to below in chap. iii of this Sutta, §§ 10, 20.
4. This list of foolish talks recurs in Suttas 76-78 in the Magghima, and at Vinaya I, 188.
5. These expressions all recur at Magghima II, 3.
6. Sahitam me, literally 'the put together is to me,' &c. The idiom is only found here, and may mean either as rendered above, or 'the context is on my side,' or 'the text (of the Scriptures) is on my side,' or merely 'that which is of use is on my side.' This last, given by the Sanna, amounts to the same as the version adopted above.
7. Putting the cart before the horse.}
"Your challenge has been taken up{1}."
"You are proved to be wrong{2}."
"Set to work to clear your views{3}."
"Disentangle yourself if you can.{4}"--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such wrangling phrases."
19. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to taking messages, going on errands, and acting as go-betweens; to wit, on kings, ministers of state, Kshatriyas, Brahmans, or young men, saying: 'Go there, come hither, take this with you, bring that from thence'--
Gotama the recluse abstains from such servile duties."
20. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, are tricksters{5}, droners out (of holy words for pay){6},
{1. Âropito te vâdo. On the use of this idiom compare the Commentary on the Theri Gâthâ, p. 101. There is a misprint here in the text, aropito for âropito. 'Issue has been joined against you' would be a possible rendering. It is the phrase used, when some one has offered to hold debate (maintain a thesis) against all comers, by an opponent who takes up the challenge.
2. Niggahîto si. On this idiom compare the opening paragraphs of the Kathâ Vatthu and the Commentary on them (especially pp. 9, 10). It is literally 'you are censured.'
3. Kara vâda-pamokkhâya. So Buddhaghosa. But Gogerly renders, 'Depart, that you may be freed from this disputation;' and the only parallel passage seems to support this view. It is Magghima I, 133, where it is said to be wrong to learn the Scriptures for the sake of the advantage of being freed from discussion or debate where texts are quoted against one. Pamokkha occurs besides at Samyutta I, 2, Gâtaka V, 30, 31, and Mahâvamsa 158, but not in this connection.
4. So the author of Milinda in making his hero Nâgasena use just such a phrase (Mil. p. 27) is making him commit a breach of propriety.
5. Kuhakâ. 'Astonish the world with the three sorts of trickery,' says Buddhaghosa. These are also referred to without explanation at Gâtaka IV, 297 (where we should, I think, read kuhana).
6. Lapakâ. Compare Itivuttaka, No. 99 = Anguttara I, 165, 168; and also Milinda 228, Gâtaka III, 349.}
diviners{1}, and exorcists{2}, ever hungering to add gain to gain{3}--Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such deception and patter."'
Here ends the Magghima Sîla [the Longer Paragraphs on Conduct].
[9] 21. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts, such as these:--
(1) palmistry-prophesying long life, prosperity, &c. (or the reverse), from marks on a child's hands, feet, &c.{4}(2) Divining by means of omens and signs{5}.
(3) Auguries drawn from thunderbolts and other celestial portents{6}.
{1. Nemittakâ, 'interpreters of signs and omens.' See the note on nimittam in the next paragraph. Compare Milinda 299; Gât. IV, 124.
2. Nippesikâ, 'scarers away' (? of ghosts, or bad omens). But the Commentary and Sanna give no help, and the word has only been found in this list.
3. All the five words in this list recur at A. III, 111, but the context there is as undecisive as it is here, and the Commentary (fol. di of the Tumour MS. at the India Office), though slightly different, gives no better help.
4. Angam, literally 'limbs.' Buddhaghosa distinguishes this from lakkhanam (No. 5 in this list), and from anga-viggâ (No. 16). It is not found, in this sense, anywhere in the texts.
5. Nimittam, literally 'marks,' or 'signs.' Buddhaghosa tells a story in illustration. King Pandu, they say (Pândi in the Sanna), took three pearls in his closed hand, and asked a diviner what he had in it. The latter looked this way and that for a sign; and seeing a fly which had been caught by a house-lizard (the Sanna says 'by a dog,' perhaps the meaning is simply 'in sugar') getting free (muttâ), said at once 'pearls' (also muttâ in Pâli). 'How many?' says the king. The diviner, hearing a dog bark thrice, answered 'three.' Compare Mil. 178, and the note to the last section on nemittikâ and the story at Mahâvamsa 82.
6. Uppâdo, 'the portents of the great ones, thunderbolts falling, and so on,' says Buddhaghosa. The Great Ones here mean, I think, the spirits or gods presiding over the sun, moon, and planets (see the note on § 26). The word corresponds to the Sanskrit Utpâta, though the d is vouched for by overwhelming authority. But this is only another instance of a change not infrequent (as Ed. Müller has shown, Pâli Grammar, p. 37); and the one or two cases where Burmese scribes have (wrongly) corrected to uppâta is another instance to be added to those referred to in the Introduction to Sum. I of their habit of putting an easier reading where the more difficult one is really right. Childers should therefore have kept this word separate from the other uppâdo. Comp. Gât. I, 374.}
(4) Prognostication by interpreting dreams{1}.(5) Fortune-telling from marks on the body{2}.
(6) Auguries from the marks on cloth gnawed by mice{3}.
(7) Sacrificing to Agni{4}.
(8) Offering oblations from a spoon{5}.
(9-13) Making offerings to gods of husks, of the red powder between the grain and the husk, of husked grain ready for boiling, of ghee, and of oil{6}.
(14) Sacrificing by spewing mustard seeds, &c., into the fire out of one's mouth{7}.
(15) Drawing blood from one's right knee as a sacrifice to the gods{8}.
{1. Supinam. On the theory of dreams compare Mil., pp. 297-301. At Gât. I, 374 the word is masculine. Perhaps charms to avert bad dreams (Ath.-veda VI, 46; XVI, 5 and 6) are included in this 'low art.' Gât. No. 77 mocks at the dream interpreters.
2. Lakkhanam. The commentator on this word as used in the very same connection at Gât. I, 374 adds that it means also the knowledge of good and bad marks on such persons and things as are mentioned here in our next paragraph. Buddhaghosa confines its meaning to that given above. This contradiction is another confirmation of the opinion expressed by me in 1880 in 'Buddhist Birth Stories,' pp. lxiii foll., that Childers was wrong in ascribing the Gâtaka Commentary to Buddhaghosa. The word occurs in Buddhaghosa's sense at D. I, 114, 120 = A. I, 163, &c.; Gât. I, 56.
3. Musikâkkhinnam. The allied superstition of thinking it unlucky to wear clothes gnawed by mice is laughed out of court in the Mangala Gâtaka, No. 87.
4. Aggi-homam. Telling people that a sacrifice, if offered in a fire of such and such a wood, will have such and such a result.
5. Dabbi-homam. Telling people that an oblation of such and such grains, butter, or so on, poured into the fire from such and such a sort of spoon, will have such and such a result.
6. See Hillebrandt, 'Neu und Vollmondsopfer,' pp. 31, 171, and 'Ritual-literatur' in Bühler's 'Grundriss,' pp. 71, 72, 114, 176. The nine homas here objected to may also be compared with the seven at Ath.-veda VIII, 9, 18.
7. No instance of this can be traced in the books of the Brahmans.
8. Compare the passage in Hillebrandt, in Bühler's 'Grundriss,' p. 176, on the use of blood for sorcery. In one passage, Rig-vidh. III, 18, 3, it is one's own blood that is to be used. But the specific interpretation given here by Buddhaghosa cannot be paralleled from the Brahmanical books.}
(16) Looking at the knuckles, &c., and, after muttering a charm, divining whether a man is well born or lucky or not{1}.(17) Determining whether the site, for a proposed house or pleasance, is lucky or not{2}.
(18) Advising on customary law{3}.
(19) Laying demons in a cemetery{4}.
(20) Laying ghosts{5}.
(21) Knowledge of the charms to be used when lodging in an earth house{6}.
(22) Snake charming{7}.
{1. Anga-viggâ. Buddhaghosa thus separates this from the angam of No. 1. In both the passages Gât. II, 200, 250 the knowledge is simply that of judging from a man's appearance that he is rough or bad, and it is the good man in the story (in the second case the Bodisat himself) who is the anga-viggâ-pâthako. So at Gât. V, 458 it is by anga-viggâ that the Bodisat prophesies that a man will be cruel.
2. Vatthu-viggâ. Childers (Dict., p. 559) has 'pool' instead of 'house,' having misread sara for ghara (s and gh are nearly alike in Sinhalese). The craft is further explained by Buddhaghosa in his comment on the Mahâ-parinibbâna Sutta I, 26. Its success depended on the belief that the sites were haunted by spirits. See further below, § 27.
3. Khatta-viggâ. The Burmese MSS. correct the rare khatta into the familiar khetta. Khetta-viggâ indeed occurs at Ud. III, 9, and may just possibly there (in connection with writing, arithmetic, tables, &c.) be correct in the meaning of 'land-survering, mensuration.' Buddhaghosa, though his explanation is corrupt, evidently understands the phrase in a sense similar to that of khatta-dhamma at Gât. V, 489, 490; Mil. 164 (see also 178); and his gloss nîti-sattham is probably nearer the mark than Sankara's (on Khând. Up. VII, I, 2), which is dhanur-veda. It is the craft of government, then lying in great part in adhering to custom.
The Sutta only follows the Upanishad in looking at all these crafts as minor matters, but it goes beyond it in looking upon them as a 'low' way, for a Brahman, of gaining a livelihood.
4. Siva-viggâ. It is clear that siva is used euphemistically, and we may here have an early reference to what afterwards developed into the cult of the god Siva. Buddhaghosa gives an alternative explanation as knowledge of the cries of jackals.
5. Bhûta-viggâ. Also in the Khândogya list (loc. cit.).
6. Bhûri-viggâ. It is the same as bhûri-kammam, explained in the same way by Buddhaghosa on § 27 below.
7. Ahi-viggâ. One method is described at Gât. IV, 457, 8. Perhaps such charms against snake bite as Ath.-v. V, 13; VI, 12, 56; VII, 88, are included.}
(23) The poison craft{1}.(24) The scorpion craft{2}.
(25) The mouse craft{2}.
(26) The bird craft{3}.
(27) The crow craft{4}.
(28) Foretelling the number of years that a man has yet to live.
(29) Giving charms to ward off arrows{5}.
(30) The animal wheel{6}.
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
22. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts, such as these--
Knowledge of the signs of good and bad qualities in the following things and of the marks in them denoting the health or luck of their owners:--to wit, gems{7}, staves, garments, swords, arrows, bows, other weapons, women{8}, men{8}, boys{8}, girls{8}, slaves, slave-girls, elephants, horses, buffaloes, balls, oxen, goats{9}, sheep{9}, fowls{9}, quails{9}, iguanas{10}, earrings{10}, tortoises, and other animals--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
23. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses
{1. Buddhaghosa says curing or giving poison, or poison spells (compare Ath.-v. VI, 90, 93, 100).
2. These are explained to mean simply curing the bites of these creatures.
3. Understanding their language.
4. Divining by the appearance and the cawings of crows,
5. Compare the Ambattha-viggâ at Sum. 255 and below, p. 96 of the text, § 23.
6. Miga-kakkam. Understanding the language of all creatures.
7. The whole of this 'low art' as applied to gems has been collected in a series of manuals now edited by L. Finot in his 'Lapidaires Indiens,' Paris, 1896.
8. The art in these four cases is to determine whether the marks on them show they will bring good (or bad) luck to the houses in which they dwell.
9. The art in these five cases is to say whether it is unclean or not to eat them.
10. This comes in here very oddly. But the old commentator had the same reading, and takes the word in its ordinary senses, not even as amulet.}
and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts, such as soothsaying, to the effect that--
[10] The chiefs will march out.
The chiefs will march back.
The home chiefs will attack, and the enemies' retreat.
The enemies' chiefs will attack, and ours will retreat.
The home chiefs will gain the victory, and the foreign chiefs suffer defeat.
The foreign chiefs will gain the victory, and ours will suffer defeat{1}--
Thus will there be victory on this side, defeat on that--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
24. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by such low arts as foretelling--
(1) There will be an eclipse of the moon.(2) There will be an eclipse of the sun.
(3) There will be an eclipse of a star (Nakshatra){2}.
(4) There will be aberration of the sun or the moon.
(5) The sun or the moon will return to its usual path.
(6) There will be aberrations of the stars.
(7) The stars will return to their usual course{3}.
{1. Throughout these paragraphs the plural is used. This cannot be honorific, as the few great kings of that time are always spoken of in the singular. Yet all the previous translators, except Burnouf, translate by the singular--'the king will march out,' &c. It is evident that we have to understand 'chiefs,' and not the 'king': and that not absolute monarchies, but republican institutions of a more or less aristocratic type, were in the mind of the composer of the paragraph.
2. Nakkhatta, translated by Gogerly and Neumann a 'planet.' Buddhaghosa explains it by 'Mars and so on.' This may apply to planets, but also to stars in general, and I know no other passage where the meaning of the word is confined to planets. Burnouf has 'constellation,' but what can the eclipse of a constellation mean?
3. Patha-gamana and uppatha-gamana. Prof. Kielhorn says (in a note he has been kind enough to send me on this section): 'What the author means by these words I do not know. But uppatha-gamana would be literally "aberration, the going away from one's proper path"; and patha-gamana therefore should be "following one's proper course." I am sure the two words could not mean conjunction and opposition; nor, I think, ascension and declension. It is curious that Buddhaghosa has not explained them.'}
(8) There will be a fall of meteors{1}.(9) There will be a jungle fire{2}.
(10) There will be an earthquake.
(11) The god will thunder.
(12-15) There will be rising and setting, clearness and dimness, of the sun or the moon or the stars{3}, or foretelling of each of these fifteen phenomena that they will betoken such and such a result" [11]
25. 'Or he might say: 'Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts, such as these:--
Foretelling an abundant rainfall.
Foretelling a deficient rainfall.
Foretelling a good harvest
Foretelling scarcity of food.
Foretelling tranquillity.
Foretelling disturbances.
Foretelling a pestilence.
Fortelling a healthy season.
Counting on the fingers{4}.
{1. Ukkâ-pâto. See Gât. I, 374; Mil. 178.
2. Disâ-dâho. 'Thunder and lightning,' according to Neumann; 'fiery corruscations in the atmosphere,' according to Gogerly, whom Burnouf follows. But Buddhaghosa's words are only explicable of a jungle fire. Compare Gât. I, 212, 213, 374.
3. Burnouf takes these four words to refer to four occurrences. Gogerly and Neumann take them as only two. Buddhaghosa seems to imply four.
4. Muddâ. There has been great diversity in the various guesses made at the meaning in this connection of muddâ, which usually means 'seal' or 'seal-ring.' Gogerly has 'conveyancing,' and so also Childers; Burnouf takes this word and the next as one compound in the sense of foretelling the future 'by calculating diagrams'; and Neumann has 'Verwaltungsdienste,' administrative services. Buddhaghosa is very curt. He says only hattha-mudda ganana. Hattha-muddâ is found elsewhere only at Gât. III, 528, where hattha-muddam karoti means 'to beckon,' and at Vin. V, 163, where it is said of the polite member of the Order that he makes no sign with his hand, nor beckons. (On hattha-vikâra compare Mil. I, 207, 547 = Vin. I, 157 = Vin. II, 2I6.) Both these passages are much later than our text, and the sense of beckoning is here impossible. But muddâ is mentioned as a craft at Vin. IV, 7 (where it is called honourable), at M. I, 85, and several times in the Milinda (pp. 3, 59, 78, 178 of the Pâli text), and muddiko as the person who practises that craft at D. I, 51 and Vin. IV, 8. The Sinhalese comment on this (quoted in my translation of the Milinda, I, 91) shows that the art there was simply arithmetic, using the joints or knuckles or the fingers as an aid to memory. And this is no doubt the meaning in our paragraph.}
Counting without using the fingers{1}.
Summing up large totals{2}.
Composing ballads, poetizing{3}.
Casuistry, sophistry{4}--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
26. Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts, such as--
{1. Gananâ. Buddhaghosa's comment on this is akkhiddakâ-gananâ, in contradistinction to the last. It is evidently calculation not broken up by using the fingers, mental arithmetic pure and simple. The accountant who uses this method is called ganako (D. I, 51; Vin. IV, 8). Buddhaghosa's comment on the latter passage is given by Minayeff at Pat. 84, but with a wrong reading, akkhimtaka.
2. Samkhânam, literally 'counting up.' He who has the faculty of doing this can, on looking at a tree, say how many leaves it has, says Buddhaghosa. But the first words of his comment are doubtful. He may perhaps mean calculating masses by means of the rosary. Burnouf skips this word, and Neumann has simply 'counting.'
3. Kâveyyam. The word recurs, in a bad sense, at A. I, 72 = III, 107, and also at S. I, 110 in the phrase kâveyya-matto, 'drunk with prophecy, inspired.' Buddhaghosa enumerates, in the words of A. II, 230, four kinds of poetry, and explains them in nearly the same words as found in the Manoratha Pûranî on that passage. None of the four refer to sacrificial hymns. Impromptu rhyming, ballad singing, and the composition of poems are meant.
4. Lokâyatam. Usually rendered 'materialism.' But it is quite clear that this meaning is impossible in this connection. See Milinda. 174.}
(1) Arranging a lucky day for marriages in which the bride or bridegroom is brought home{1}.(2) Arranging a lucky day for marriages in which the bride or bridegroom is sent forth{2}.
(3) Fixing a lucky time for the conclusion of treaties of peace [or using charms to procure harmony]{3}.
(4) Fixing a lucky time for the outbreak of hostilities [or using charms to make discord]{3}.
(5) Fixing a lucky time for the calling in of debts [Or charms for success in throwing dice]{3}.
(6) Fixing a lucky time for the expenditure of money [or charms to bring ill luck to an opponent throwing dice]{3}.
(7) Using charms to make people lucky{4}.
(8) Using charms to make people unlucky.
(9) Using charms to procure abortion.
(10) Incantations to bring on dumbness.
(11) Incantations to keep a man's jaws fixed.
(12) Incantations to make a man throw up his hands.
(13) Incantations to bring on deafness{5}.
{1. Compare the Sinhalese bîna marriage in which the bridegroom is brought into the house of the bride's family.
2. Compare the Sinhalese dîga marriage in which the bride is sent out to live in the bridegroom's family. We have no words now in English to express this difference between marrying and giving in marriage.
3. Samvadanam. Childers calls this a magic art, following Burnouf who calls it sorcery. Buddhaghosa explains it as astrology. The fact is all these expressions are technical terms for acts of astrology or sorcery, they none of them occur elsewhere either in Pâli or Sanskrit, and the tradition preserved by Buddhaghosa may be at fault in those cases in which the use of the word had not survived to later times. The general sense may be sufficiently clear, but for absolute certainty of interpretation we must wait till examples are found in Indian books of the actual use of the words, not in mere lists, hut in a connection which shows the meaning. Ath.-v. III, 30 is a charm to secure concord in a family, compare VII, 52; and there are several charms in the Atharva-veda for success in gambling.
4. Subhaga-karanam. Many such charms are preserved in the Atharva-veda (for instance, X, 3; 5; XVI, 4; 9).
5. It would be useless to seek in the Atharva-veda, which (with the one exception mentioned in the notes to the next section) gives only the charms which are supposed to bring benefits, for instances of these malevolent practices. But we have here direct evidence that black magic, as was indeed inevitable, was as fully trusted in the sixth century B.C. in the valley of the Ganges as white. We need not be surprised that the malevolent charms are not recorded.}
(14) Obtaining oracular answers by means of the magic mirror{1}.(15) Obtaining oracular answers through a girl possessed{2}.
(16) Obtaining oracular answers from a god{3}.
(17} The worship of the Sun{4}.
(18} The worship of the Great One{5}.
(19) Bringing forth flames from one's mouth.
(20) Invoking Sirî, the goddess of Luck{6}--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
{1. Âdâsa-pañho. Buddhaghosa says they made a god appear in the mirror and answer questions put. It is a later conception to discard the god, and make the mirror itself give pictures of the hidden events. The mirror is of metal (Par. Dîp. 235).
2. Kumârî-pañho. Through a girl of good family and repute.
3. Deva-pañho. Also obtained through a girl, but this time a deva-dâsî or temple prostitute. It is instructive to find, even under the patriarchal regime of the sixth century B. C., that men thought they could best have communications from the gods through the medium of a woman.
4. Âdikkupatthânam. Such sun-worship is ridiculed in the Gâtaka of the same name, No. 173.
5. Buddhaghosa explains the Great One as Mahâ Brahmâ. This seems to me very doubtful. It is at least odd to find Brahmâ introduced in this connection. We may grant that the Buddhists might have put sun-worship into a list of sorceries, but there was no ceremonial cult of Brahma and little or none of Brahmâ. And however much the new gospel might hold the spetulations of the dominant theosophy in contempt, that would scarcely explain their being ranked as privates in this regiment. Burnouf avoids this by rendering the phrase generally 'serving the great,' and Neumann has 'practising sorcery.' Neither of these guesses seems happy. Mahat in composition is elsewhere always mahâ in Pâli, and we possibly have here a sandhi for mahatî-upatthânam, in the sense of worship of the Great Mother, the Earth, with covert allusion to mahî. This would give excellent sense, as the worship of the Mother Earth was closely associated in the popular mind with witchcraft. A god or goddess is certainly meant, and one so associated would be best in place here. It is perhaps worthy of note that in the oldest portion of the Taittirîya Upanishad, Sun, Moon, Earth, and Srî occur together in a set of mystic groups, and Sun, Moon, Brahma, and food are all identified by a word-play with Mahas (Sîksâ-vallî 4-7).
6. See Milinda 191, and Gât. II, 410.}
[12] 27. 'Or he might say: "Whereas some recluses and Brahmans, while living on food provided by the faithful, earn their living by wrong means of livelihood, by low arts, such as these:--
(1) Vowing gifts to a god if a certain benefit be granted.(2) Paying such vows.
(3) Repeating charms while lodging in an earth house{1}.
(4) Causing virility{2}.
(5) Making a man impotent{2}.
(6) Fixing on lucky sites for dwellings{3}.
(7) Consecrating sites{3}.
(8) Ceremonial rinsings of the mouth.
(9) Ceremonial bathings{4}.
(10) Offering sacrifices.
(11-14) Administering emetics and purgatives.
(15) Purging people to relieve the head (that is by giving drugs to make people sneeze).
(16) Oiling people's ears (either to make them grow or to heal sores on them).
(17) Satisfying people's eyes (soothing them by dropping medicinal oils into them).
(18) Administering drugs through the nose{5}.
(19) Applying collyrium to the eyes.
(20) Giving medical ointment for the eyes.
(21) Practising as an oculist.
(22) Practising as a surgeon.
(23) Practising as a doctor for children.
{1. Bhûri-kammam. Is this a place sacred to Mother Earth? The ceremony referred to is the carrying out of the viggâ or craft mentioned in the list at § 21.
2. Vassa- and vossa-kammam. Morris discusses the etymology of these words, only found in this list, in the J. P. T. S., 1889, p. 208. The idea of the second is not, of course, castration, but making a man's desire to fail by a spell. Several such are preserved in the Atharva (IV, 4; VI, 101 to give virility; VI, 138; VII, 113 to cause impotence).
3. Vatthu-kammam and -parikiranam. These constitute the vatthu-viggâ of § 21.
4. Bathings, that is, of other people.
5. See Mil. I, 511 and the rules laid down in 'Vinaya Texts,' II, 53-55.}
(24) Administering roots and drugs.(25) Administering medicines in rotation{1}--
Gotama the recluse holds aloof from such low arts."
'These, brethren, are the trifling matters, the minor details, of mere morality, of which the unconverted man, when praising the Tathâgata, might speak.'
Here end the Long Paragraphs on Conduct.
28. 'There are, brethren. other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise{2}. These things the Tathâgata, having himself realised them and seen them face to face, hath set forth; and it is of them that they, who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth, should speak.
'And what are they?
29. 'There are recluses and Brahmans, brethren, who reconstruct the ultimate beginnings of things, whose speculations are concerned with the ultimate past{3}, and who on eighteen grounds put forward various
{1. The Buddhist view of Nos. 11-25 must not be mistaken. It is sufficiently clear from the numerous examples in the Vinaya (see especially 'Vinaya Texts,' II, pp. 41-144), and from the high praise accorded to Gîvaka and other physicians, that the objection was to recluses and Brahmans practising medicine as a means of livelihood. They might do so gratis for themselves or for their coreligionists, and laymen might do so for gain.
The use of patimokkha in No. 25 is curious. It is when, for instance, a purgative is first given and then a tonic to counteract the other, to set free from its effect. Compare Gât. V, 25.
2. The corresponding Sanskrit terms occur at Divyâvadâna, p. 492. No doubt the reading there ought to be nipuno.
3. These phrases recur S. Ill, 45. On anudditthi see also Gogerly in the 'Ceylon Friend,' 1875. p. 133, and Morris in the J. P. T. S., 1886, p. 113; and compare attânudditthi at Mil. 146, 160, 352; S. N. 1119. As in our colloquial expression a 'viewy man,' ditthi almost always, and anuditthi in all the seven passages where it occurs, have a connotation of contempt--a mere view. an offhand ill-considered opinion, a delusion. The Greek {Greek dóksa} has had a similar history, and dogma or speculation is a better rendering than view or belief.}
assertions regarding it. [13] And about what, with reference to what, do those venerable ones do so?
30. 'There are, brethren, some recluses and Brahmans who are Eternalists{1}, and who, on four grounds, proclaim that both the soul and the world are eternal. And about what, with reference to what, do those venerable ones do so?
31. 'In the first place, brethren, some recluse or Brahman by means of ardour, of exertion, of application, of earnestness, of careful thought, reaches up to such rapture of heart that, rapt in heart, he calls to mind his various dwelling-places in times gone by--in one birth, or in two, or three, or four, or five, or ten, or twenty, or thirty, or forty, or fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand, or in several hundreds or thousands or laks of births--to the effect that "There I had such and such a name, was of such and such a lineage{2} and caste{3}, lived on such and such food, experienced such and such pains and pleasures, had such and such a span of years. And when I fell from thence I was reborn in such and such a place under such and such a name, in such and such a lineage and caste, living on such and such food, experiencing such and such pains and pleasures, with such and such a span of years. And when I fell from thence I was reborn here." Thus does he recollect, in full detail both of condition and of custom, his various dwelling-places
{1. Sassata-vâdâ.
2. Gotra, literally 'cow-stall.' The history of this word has yet to be written. It probably meant at the time this Sutta was written a family or lineage traced through the father. On the meaning of gotraga (the gentiles of Roman Law) in the later law-books see West and Bühler, 'Hindu Law of Inheritance,' p. 171.
3. Vanna, literally 'colour.' Gogerly renders it 'appearance,' and Neumann 'Beruf.' I have chosen caste (though it is not caste in its strictest sense) because it no doubt refers to the kattâro vannâ mentioned so often in the Suttas. It is true that these--Khattiyas, Brahmans, Vessas, and Suddas--were not castes, but four divisions of the people, each consisting of many subdivisions (by customs as to connubium and commensality) which afterwards hardened into castes. See J. R. A. S., 1897, pp. 180-190.}
in times gone by. [14] And he says to himself: "Eternal is the soul; and the world, giving birth to nothing new, is stedfast as a mountain peak, as a pillar firmly fixed; and though these living creatures transmigrate and pass away, fall from one state of existence and spring up in another, yet they are for ever and ever. And why must that be so? Because I, by means of ardour of exertion of application of earnestness of careful thought, can reach up to such rapture of heart that, rapt in heart, I can call to mind, and in full detail both of condition and of custom, my various dwelling-places in times gone by--by that is it that I know this--that the soul is eternal; and that the world, giving birth to nothing new, is stedfast as a mountain peak, as a pillar firmly fixed; and that though these living creatures transmigrate and pass away, fall from one state of existence and spring up in another, yet they are for ever and ever."
'This, brethren, is the first state of things on account of which, starting from which, some recluses and Brahmans are Eternalists, and maintain that both the soul and the world are eternal.
32. [The second case put is in all respects the same save that the previous births thus called to mind extend over a still longer period up to ten world aeons{1}.]
33. [15] [The third case put is in all respects the same save that the previous birth: "thus called to mind extend over a still longer period up to forty world aeons.]
34. [16] 'And in the fourth place, brethren, on what ground is it, starting from what, that those venerable ones are Eternalists, and maintain that the soul and the world are eternal.
'In this case, brethren, some recluse or Brahman
{1. Samvatta-vivattam (rolling up and evolution, from vatt, to turn). It is the period of the gradual disintegration and conformation of a world. Needless to add that the length of this period cannot be expressed in figures.
Neither the idea nor the word occurs in books known to be before the Buddha. But both are Indian rather than Buddhist. Samvarta is found in the Mahâ Bhârata and the Râmâyana; and the later Sânkhya notion of pralaya is closely allied.}
is addicted to logic and reasoning. He gives utterance to the following conclusion of his own, beaten out by his argumentations and based on his sophistry{1}; "Eternal is the soul; and the world, giving birth to nothing new, is stedfast as a mountain peak, as a pillar firmly fixed; and these living creatures, though they transmigrate and pass away, fall from one state of existence and spring up in another, yet they are for ever and ever."
'This, brethren, is the fourth state of things on the ground of which, starting from which, some recluses and Brahmans are Eternalists, and maintain that the soul and the world are eternal.
35. 'These, brethren, are those recluses and Brahmans who are Eternalists, and in four ways maintain that both the soul and the world are eternal. For whosoever of the recluses and Brahmans are such and maintain this, they do so in these four ways, or in one or other of the same, and outside these there is no way in which this opinion is arrived at.
36. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations thus arrived at, thus insisted on, will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition of those who trust in them. [17] That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better than those speculations){2}; and having that knowledge he is not puffed up, and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart{3}, realised the way of escape from them{4}, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing away of sensations, their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be relied on; and not grasping after any (of
{1. This phrase recurs below, chap. iii, §§ 14, 20.
2. Sîla, for instance, and samâdhi, and all the other things known to a Buddha, says Buddhaghosa, p. 108.
3. Pakkattam. See the common phrases A. II, 198 = S. I, 9, 10, 117; M. I, 188 = 422; M. I, 251, 252 = S. III, 54, &c.; and S. N. 61 I, 906; Mil. 96, 347; Sum. 182. 'Without depending on any one else, himself by himself,' says Buddhaghosa.
4. Nirvâna, says Buddhaghosa.}
those things men are eager for) he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free{1}.
37. 'These{2}, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata, having himself realised and seen face to face, hath set forth; and it is concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth, should speak.'
Here ends the First Portion for Recitation.
CHAPTER II.
1. 'There are, brethren, some recluses and Brahmans who are Eternalists with regard to some things, and in regard to others Non-Eternalists; who on four grounds maintain that the soul and the world are partly eternal and partly not.
'And what is it that these venerable ones depend upon, what is it that they start from, in arriving at this conclusion?
2. 'Now there comes a time, brethren, when, sooner or later, after the lapse of a long long period, this world-system passes away. And when this happens beings have mostly been reborn in the World of Radiance, and there they dwell made of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from themselves, traversing the air, continuing in glory; and thus they remain for a long long period of time.
3. 'Now there comes also a time, brethren, when,
{1. Gogerly (pp. 77, 78 in Grimblot) has made a sad mess of this paragraph, misunderstanding the grammatical construction of the first clause, and misinterpreting parâmasati in the second, and nissaranam in the third.
2. Not of course the four speculations, but the higher knowledge which has led him to reject them.}
sooner or later, this world-system begins to re-evolve. When this happens the Palace of Brahmâ appears, but it is empty. And some being or other, either because his span of years has passed or his merit is exhausted, falls from that World of Radiance, and comes to life in the Palace of Brahmâ. And there also he lives made of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from himself, traversing the air, continuing in glory; and thus does he remain for a long long period of time.
4. 'Now there arises in him, from his dwelling there so long alone, a dissatisfaction and a longing: "O! would that other beings might come to join me in this place!" And just then, either because their span of years had passed or their merit was exhausted, other beings fall from the World of Radiance, and appear in the Palace of Brahmâ as companions to him, and in all respects like him. [18]
5. 'On this, brethren, the one who was first reborn thinks thus to himself: "I am Brahmâ, the Great Brahmâ, the Supreme One, the Mighty, the All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the Father of all that are and are to be{1}. These other beings are of my creation. And why is that so? A while ago I thought, 'Would that they might come!' And on my mental aspiration, behold the beings came."
'And those beings themselves, too, think thus: "This must be Brahmâ, the Great Brahmâ, the Supreme, the Mighty, the All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the Father of all that are
{1. This string of epithets recurs at M. I, 327 in the course of the story of the Brahmâ, named Baka, who is represented as coming to the very conclusion set out in our section. The story was a favourite one, and three recensions of it have been preserved (M. I, 326-331; S. I, 142-144. and Gât. No. 405). Mr. Crow evidently considered himself the Mahâ Brahmâ of the period.
The omission in the Dialogue of all reference to the Kesava Birth Story may be a sign of greater age or it may be due simply to the fact that it is not required for the argument there.}
and are to be, And we must have been created by him. And why? Because, as we see, it was he who was here first, and we came after that."
6. 'On this, brethren, the one who first came into existence there is of longer life, and more glorious, and more powerful than those who appeared after him. And it might well be, brethren, that some being on his falling from that state, should come hither. And having come hither he might go forth from the household life into the homeless state, And having thus become a recluse he, by reason of ardour of exertion of application of earnestness of careful thought, reaches up to such rapture of heart that, rapt in heart, he calls to mind his last dwelling-place, but not the previous ones. He says to himself: "That illustrious Brahmâ, the Great Brahmâ, the Supreme One, the Mighty, the All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the Father of all that are and are to be, he by whom we were created, he is stedfast immutable eternal, of a nature that knows no change, and he will remain so for ever and ever. But we who were created by him have come hither as being impermanent mutable limited in duration of life.
[19] 'This, brethren, is the first state of things on account of which, starting out from which, some recluses and Brahmans, being Eternalists as to some things, and Non-eternalists as to others, maintain that the soul and the world are partly eternal and partly not.
7. 'And what is the second?
'There are, brethren, certain gods called the "Debauched by Pleasure{1}," For ages they pass their time in the pursuit of the laughter and sport of sensual lusts. In consequence thereof their self-possession is corrupted, and through the loss of their self-control they fall from that state:{2}.
{1. Khiddâ-padosikâ. They are not mentioned elsewhere except in the list of gods in the Mahâ Samaya (p. 287).
2. Buddhaghosa on this has a curious note. The gods, though of great glory, are delicate in body. A man, having gone without food for seven days even, may restore his strength by the use of clear broth and so on. But the gods can't play tricks with themselves; and it they lose their heads and forget their meal-times, they die--pass away from that state. The poor gods! Whether this be really implied in the text or not, it is at least in harmony with the irony of the Buddha's talk.}
8. 'Now it might well be, brethren, that some being, on his falling from that state, should come hither. And having come hither he should, as in the last case, become a recluse, and acquire the power of recollecting his last birth, but only his last one.
9. 'And he would say to himself: "Those gods who are not debauched by pleasure are stedfast, immutable, eternal, of a nature that knows no change, and they will remain so for ever and ever. [20] But we--who fell from that state, having lost our self-control through being debauched by pleasure--we have come hither as being impermanent, mutable, limited in duration of life."
10. 'And what is the third?
'There are, brethren, certain gods called "the Debauched in Mind{1}." They burn continually with envy{2} one against another, and being thus irritated, their hearts become ill-disposed towards each other, and being thus debauched, their bodies become feeble, and their minds imbecile. And those gods fall from that state.
11. 'Now it might well be, brethren, that some
{1. Mano-padosikâ. Only found here and in the list in the Samaya Sutta. Even there it is almost certainly merely taken from this passage, so that it looks very much as if both these classes or titles of gods were simply invented, in irony, for the sake of the argument. Buddhaghosa identifies this class with the retinue of the Four Great Kings--that is the regents of the four quarters.
2. Upanigghâyanti, from ghâyati, to burn. Elsewhere found only at Vin. I, 193; II, 269; III, 118, in all which passages it has the connotation of 'covet, lust after.' Buddhaghosa takes it here in the sense of envy, and tells a tale, too long to quote, to show the quarrelsome nature of these gods. In the sense of 'consider' (from ghâyati, to think) the word has only been found at S. N., p. 143. There may have been confusion between the two homonyms, so that ours got to mean 'to consider in such a way as to be excited, to burn.'}
being, on his falling from that state, should come hither; and having become a recluse should, as in the other cases, acquire the power of recollecting his last birth, but only his last one.
12. I And he would say to himself: "Those gods who are not debauched in mind do not continually burn with envy against each other, so their hearts do not become evil disposed one towards another, nor their bodies feeble and their minds imbecile. Therefore they fall not from that state; they are stedfast, immutable, eternal, of a nature that knows no change, and they will remain so for ever and ever. [21] But we were corrupted in mind, being constantly excited by envy against one another. And being thus envious and corrupt our bodies became feeble, and our minds imbecile, and we fell from that state, and have come hither as being impermanent, mutable, limited in duration of life."
'This, brethren, is the third case.
13. 'And what is the fourth?
'In this case, brethren, some recluse or Brahman is addicted to logic and reasoning. He gives utterance to the following conclusion of his own, beaten out by his argumentations and based on his sophistry: "This which is called eye and ear and nose and tongue and body is a self which is impermanent, unstable, not eternal, subject to change. But this which is called heart, or mind, or consciousness is a self which is permanent, stedfast, eternal, and knows no change, and it will remain for ever and ever{1}."
'This, brethren, is the fourth state of things, on the ground of which, starting from which, some recluses
{1. Buddhaghosa explains that these speculators perceive how the organs of sense break up (and sense impressions pass away); but they fail to see that the same thing holds even more strongly in the case of thoughts, since no sooner has each mental impression given rise to the succeeding one than it passes away. Not perceiving that, and depending on the analogy of birds, who fly away from one tree only to alight on another, they conclude that the mind, when this individuality is broken up, goes (as a unity) elsewhere.}
and Brahmans are Semi-eternalists, and in four ways maintain that the soul and the world are in some respects eternal, and in some not.
14. 'These, brethren, are those recluses and Brahmans who are Semi-eternalists, and in four ways maintain that the soul and the world are eternal in some cases and not in others. For whosoever of the recluses and Brahmans are such and maintain this, they do so in these four ways or in one or other of the same; and outside these there is no way in which this opinion is arrived at.
[22] 15. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations thus arrived at, thus insisted on, will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition of those who trust in them. That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better than those speculations); and having that knowledge, he is not puffed up, and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart, realised the way of escape from them, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing away of sensations, their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be relied on, and not grasping after any (of those things men are eager for) he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free.
'These, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata, having himself realised and seen face to face, hath set forth; and it is concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth, should speak.'
16. 'There are, brethren, certain recluses and Brahmans who are Extensionists{1}, and who in four ways set forth the infinity or finiteness of the world. And
{1. Antânantikâ.}
on what ground, starting out from what, do these venerable ones maintain this?
17. 'In the first case, brethren, some recluse or Brahman, by means of ardour of exertion of application of earnestness of careful thought, reaches up to such rapture of heart that he, rapt in heart, dwells in the world imagining it finite. And he says thus to himself: "Finite is the world, so that a path could be traced round it{1}. And why is this so? Since I, by means of ardour of exertion of application of earnestness of careful thought, can reach up to such rapture of heart that, rapt in heart, I dwell in the world perceiving it to be finite--by that I know this."
'This, brethren, is the first case.
18. 'The second case is similar, only that the conclusion is: [23] "Infinite is the world without a limit. Those recluses and Brahmans who say it is finite, so that a path could be traced round it, are wrong{2}."
19. 'The third case is similar, only that the conclusion is that he imagines the world limited in the upward and downward directions, but infinite across; he declares both the former conclusions to be wrong.
20. 'In the fourth case, brethren, some recluse or Brahman is addicted to logic and reasoning. He gives utterance to the following conclusion of his own, beaten out by his argumentations and based on his sophistry: "This world is neither finite nor yet infinite, Those recluses and Brahmans who maintain either the first, or the second, or the third conclusion, are wrong. [24] Neither is the world finite, nor is it infinite."
'This, brethren, is the fourth case.
{1. Parivatumo. Only found here, Buddhaghosa says nothing.
2. According to Buddhaghosa (Ats. 160) there are four things that are infinite--space, the number of world-systems, the number of living creatures, and the wisdom of a Buddha. Had this doctrine formed part of the original Buddhism we should expect to find these kattâri anantâni in the chapter on the 'Fours' in the Anguttara, but I do not find them there.}
21. 'These, brethren, are those recluses and Brahmans who are Extensionists, and in four ways maintain that the world is finite or infinite. For whosoever of the recluses and Brahmans are such, and maintain this, they do so in these four ways or in one or other of the same; and outside these there is no way in which this opinion is arrived at.
22. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations thus arrived at, thus insisted on, will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition: of those who trust in them. That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better than those speculations); and having that knowledge he is not puffed up, and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart, realised the way of escape from them, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing away of sensations, their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be relied on, and not grasping after any (of those things men are eager for) he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free.
'These, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata, having himself realised and seen face to face, hath set forth; and it is concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth, should speak:
23. 'There are, brethren, some recluses and Brahmans who wriggle like eels; and when a question is put to them on this or that they resort to equivocation, to eel-wriggling, and this in four ways.
'Now on what ground, starting out from what, do those venerable ones do so?
24. 'In the first place, brethren, some recluse or Brahman does not understand the good in its real nature, nor the evil. And he thinks: "I neither know
the good, as it really is, nor the evil. [25] That being so, were I to pronounce this to be good or that to be evil, I might be influenced therein by my feelings or desires, by illwill or resentment. And under these circumstances I might be wrong; and my having been wrong might cause me the pain of remorse; and the sense of remorse might become a hindrance to me{1}." Thus fearing and abhorring the being wrong in an expressed opinion, he will neither declare anything to be good, nor to be bad; but on a question being put to him on this or that, he resorts to eel-wriggling, to equivocation, and says: "I don't take it thus. I don't take it the other way. But I advance no different opinion. And I don't deny your position. And I don't say it is neither the one, nor the other{2}."
'This is the first case.
'And what is the second?
25. [The same, reading] '. . . "Under these circumstances I might fall into that grasping condition of heart which causes rebirth; and my so falling might cause me the pain of remorse; and the sense of remorse might become a hindrance to me." [26] Thus fearing and abhorring the falling into that state{3}, he will neither declare (&c., as in § 24).
'This is the second case.
'And what is the third?
26. [The same, reading] 'And he thinks: "I neither know the good, as it really is, nor the evil. Now there are recluses and Brahmans who are clever, subtle, experienced in controversy, hair-splitters, who go about, methinks, breaking to pieces by their wisdom
{1. 'Either in self-training or in the attainment of bliss in heaven,' says Buddhaghosa (p. 115).
2. Buddhaghosa gives examples of these five equivocations.
3. Buddhaghosa explains that if, in his ignorance, he should, by chance, declare the good to be good, he will be puffed up by the approval of the wise. But if he should blunder, he will be filled with vexation and illwill when his error is pointed out. Either of these states of mind will be the fuel to keep. the fire burning, the state technically called Upâdâna, 'grasping.'}
the speculations of others. Were I to pronounce this to be good, or that to be evil, these men might join issue with me, call upon me for my reasons, point out my errors. And on their doing so, I might be unable to explain{1}. And that might cause me the pain of remorse; and the sense of remorse might become a hindrance to me." Thus fearing and abhorring the joinder of issue, he will neither declare (&c., as in § 24).
'This is the third case. [27]
'And what is the fourth?
27. 'In this case, brethren, some recluse or Brahman is dull, stupid. And it is by reason of his dullness, his stupidity, that when a question on this or that is put to him, he resorts to equivocation, to wriggling like an eel--"If you ask me whether there is another world,--well, if I thought there were, I would say so. But I don't say so. And I don't think it is thus or thus. And I don't think it is otherwise. And I don't deny it. And I don't say there neither is, nor is not, another world." Thus does he equivocate, and in like manner about each of such propositions as the following{2}:--
| a. | (2) There is not another world. |
| (3) There both is, and is not, another world. | |
| (4) There neither is, nor is not, another world. | |
| b. | (1) There are Chance Beings (so called because they spring into existence, either here or in another world, without the intervention of parents, and seem therefore to come without a cause). |
| (2) There are no such beings. | |
| (3) There both are, and are not, such beings. | |
| (4) There neither are, nor are not, such beings. | |
| c. | (1) There is fruit, result, of good and bad actions. |
{1. Sampâyati. See the note at 'Vinaya Texts,'. III, 317, and compare M. I, 85, 96, 472.
2. Such questions are called elsewhere the common basis of discussions among Brahmans.}
| (2) There is not. | |
| (3) There both is, and is not. | |
| (4) There neither is, nor is not. | |
| d. | (1) A man who has penetrated to the truth{1} continues to exist after death. |
| (2) He does not. | |
| (3) He both does, and does not. | |
| (4) He neither does, nor does not. |
This, brethren, is the fourth case{2}.
[28] 28. 'These, brethren, are those recluses and Brahmans who wriggle like eels; and who, when a question is put to them on this or that, resort to equivocation, to eel-wriggling; and that in four ways. For whosoever do so, they do so in these four ways, or in one or other of the same; there is no other way in which they do so.
29. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations thus arrived at, thus insisted on, will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition of those who trust in them. That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better than those speculations); and having that knowledge he is not puffed up, and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart, realised the way of escape from them, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing away of sensations, their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be relied on, and not grasping after any (of those things men are eager for) he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free.
'These, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising,
{1. The word here used is Tathâgata, 'he who has gone, or perhaps come, to the truth.' See Chalmers in the J. R. A. S., Jan., 1898, and compare S. III, 111, 116-118; M. I, 140, 171, 486; S. N. 467. The use of sammaggato (D. I, 55, &c.) and of gatatto (D. I, 57, &c.) shows that gata was used elliptically in the sense of 'gone to the furthest point aimed at' among the followers of the other sects that arose at the same time as Buddhism. The exact derivation and history of the word Tathâgata may be doubtful, but its meaning is, on the whole, clear enough.
2. This is the identical answer put below (p. 57 of the text) into the mouth of Sañgaya Belatthaputta.}
sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata; having himself realised and seen face to face, hath set forths and it is concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth, should speak.'
30. 'There are, brethren, some recluses and Brahmans who are Fortuitous-Originists{1}, and who in two ways maintain that the soul and the world arise without a cause. And on what ground, starting out from what, do they do so?
31. 'There are, brethren, certain gods called Unconscious Beings{2}. As soon as an idea occurs to them they fall from that state. Now it may well be, brethren, that a being, on falling from that state, should come hither; and having come hither he might go forth from the household life into the homeless state. And having thus become a recluse he, by reason of ardour and so on (as in the other cases) reaches up to such rapture of heart that, rapt in heart, he calls to mind how that idea occurred to him, but not more than that. He says to himself: "Fortuitous
{1. Adhikka-samuppannikâ. This adhikka (which must be distinguished from the other adhikka, derived from adhîyati, occurring at Gât. III, 218 = IV, 301) recurs at M. I, 443, where it is opposed in the sense of 'occasional' to abhinha at M. I, 442 in the sense of 'habitual.' Udâna VI, 5 throws light on its use here. It is there associated with words meaning 'neither self-originated, nor created by others.' It is explained by Buddhaghosa on our passage (Sum. I, 118) as 'springing up without a cause.' The derivation is doubtful.
2. Asañña-sattâ. They spring into being in this wise. Some one of the Brahman ascetics having practised continual meditation and arrived at the Fourth Ghâna, sees the disadvantage attached to thinking, and says to himself: 'It is by dwelling on it in thought that physical pain and all sorts of mental terrors arise. Have done with this thinking. An existence without it were better.' And dying in this belief he is reborn among the Unconscious Ones, who have form only, and neither sensations nor ideas nor predispositions nor consciousness. So long as the power of the Ghâna lasts, so long do they last. Then an idea occurs to them--the idea of rebirth in this world--and they straightway die.}
in origin are the soul and the world. And why so? Because formerly I was not, but now am. Having not been, I have come to be." [29]
'This, brethren, is the first state of things on account of which, starting out from which, some recluses and Brahmans become Fortuitous-Originists, and maintain that the soul and the world arise without a cause.
32, 33. 'And what is the second?
'In this case, brethren, some recluse or Brahman is addicted to logic and reasoning. He gives utterance to the following conclusion of his own, beaten out by his argumentations, and based on his sophistry: "The soul and the world arose without a cause."
'This, brethren, is the second case.
34. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations thus arrived at, thus insisted on, will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition of those who trust in them. That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better than those speculations); and having that knowledge he is not puffed up, and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart, realised the way of escape from them, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing away of sensations, their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be relied on, and not grasping after any (of those things men are eager for) he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free.
'These, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata, having himself realised and seen face to face, hath set forth; and it is concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth, should speak.'
[30] 35. 'These, brethren, are the recluses and Brahmans who reconstruct the ultimate beginnings of things, whose speculations are concerned with the
ultimate past, and who on eighteen grounds put forward various assertions regarding the past{1}. And those who do so, all of them, do so in one or other of these eighteen ways. There is none beside.
36. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations thus arrived at, thus insisted on, will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition of those who trust in them. That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better than those speculations); and having that knowledge he is not puffed up, and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart, realised the way of escape from them, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing away of sensations, their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be relied on, and not grasping after any (of those things men are eager for) he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free.
'These, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata, having himself realised and seen face to face, hath set forth; and it is concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth, should speak.'
37. 'There are, brethren, recluses and Brahmans who arrange the future, whose speculations are concerned with the future, and who on forty-four grounds put forward various assertions regarding the future. And on account of what, starting out from what, do they do so?
38. 'There are, brethren, recluses and Brahmans who [31] hold the doctrine of a conscious existence after death{2}, and who maintain in sixteen ways that
{1. See I, 1, 29 (p. 12 of the text).
2. Literally 'who are After-deathers, Conscious-maintainers.' These summary epithets are meant to be contemptuous, and the word chosen for death adds to the force of the phrase. It is not the usual word, but âghâtana (so read in the text), meaning literally 'shambles, place of execution.' The ordinary phrase would have been param-maranikâ.}
the soul after death is conscious. And how do they do so?
'They say of the soul: "The soul after death, not subject to decay, and conscious,
(1) has form{1},(2) is formless{2},
(3) has, and has not, form,
(4) neither has, nor has not, form,
(5) is finite,
(6) is infinite,
(7) is both,
(8) is neither,
(9) has one mode of consciousness,
(10) has various modes of consciousness,
(11) has limited consciousness,
(12) has infinite consciousness,
(13) is altogether happy,
(14) is altogether miserable,
(15) is both,
(16) is neither."
39. 'These, brethren, are those recluses and Brahmans who hold the doctrine of a conscious existence after death, and who maintain in sixteen ways that the soul after death is conscious. And those who do so, all of them, do so in one or other of these sixteen ways. There is none beside.
40. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations thus arrived at, thus insisted on, will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition of those who trust in them. That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better than those speculations); and having that knowledge he is not puffed up, and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart, realised the way of escape from them, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing away of sensations, their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be relied on, and not grasping after any (of those things men are eager for) he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free.
{1. So the Agîvakas, says Buddhaghosa.
2. So the Niganthas, says Buddhaghosa.}
'These, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand. tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata, having himself realised and seen face to face, hath set forth; and it is concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth, should speak.'
Here ends the Second Portion for Recitation. [32]
CHAPTER III.
1. 'There are, brethren, recluses and Brahmans who hold the doctrine of an unconscious existence after death, and who maintain in eight ways that the soul after death is unconscious. And how do they do so?
2. 'They say of the soul: "The soul after death, not subject to decay, and unconscious,
(1) has form,(2) is formless,
(3) has, and has not, form,
(4) neither has, nor has not, form
(5) is finite,
(6) is infinite,
(7) is both,
(8) is neither."
3. 'These, brethren, are those recluses and Brahmans who hold the doctrine of an unconscious existence after death, and who maintain in eight ways that the soul after death is unconscious. And those who do so, all of them, do so in one or other of those eight ways. There is none beside.
4. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations thus arrived at, thus insisted on, will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition of those who trust in them. That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better than those speculations); and having that knowledge he is not puffed up, and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart, realised the
way of escape from them, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing away of sensations. their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be relied on, and not grasping after any (of those things men are eager for) he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free.
'These, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata, having himself realised and seen face to face hath set forth; and it is concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in accordance with the truth should speak.
5-8. [33] [Similar sections for those who maintain in eight ways that the soul after death is neither conscious nor unconscious.]
{1}9. [34] 'There are, brethren, recluses and Brahmans who are Annihilationists, who in seven ways maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being{2}. And on account of what, starting out from what, do they do so?
10. 'In the first place, brethren, some recluse or Brahman puts forth the following opinion, the following view: "Since, Sir, this soul has form, is built up of the four elements, and is the offspring of father and mother, it is cut off, destroyed, on the dissolution of the body; and does not continue after death; and then, Sir, the soul is completely annihilated." Thus is it that some maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being.
11. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the whole soul, Sir, is not then completely annihilated. For there is a further soul--divine, having form, belonging to the sensuous plane, feeding on solid food. That you neither know of nor perceive. But I know
{1. §§ 9-18 are discussed by James D'Alwis in 'Buddhist Nirvâna,' p. 47. Comp. Jacobi, 'Jaina Sûtras,' II, 236, 339.
2. Sato sattassa. Insert the word sato in the text (as in §§ 17, 19, 41, 42). The Katha Upanishad I, 20 alludes to such belief.}
and have experienced it. And since this soul, on the dissolution of the body, is cut off and destroyed, does not continue after death, then is it, Sir, that the soul is completely annihilated." Thus is it that some maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being.
12. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the whole soul, Sir, is not then completely annihilated. For there is a further soul-divine, having form, made of mind, with all its major and minor parts complete, not deficient in any organ. This you neither know of nor perceive. But I know and have experienced it. And since this soul, on the dissolution of the body, is cut off and destroyed, does not continue after death, then is it, Sir, that the soul is completely annihilated." Thus is it that some maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being.
13. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the whole soul, Sir, is not then completely annihilated. For there is a further soul, which by passing beyond ideas of form, by the dying out of ideas of resistance, by paying no heed to ideas of difference, conscious that space is infinite, reaches up to the plane of the infinity of space{1}. This you neither know of nor perceive. [35] But I know and have experienced it. And since this soul, on the dissolution of the body, is cut off and destroyed, does not continue after death, then is it, Sir, that the soul is completely annihilated." Thus is it that some maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being.
14. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the whole soul, Sir, is not then completely annihilated.
{1. Compare the 4th Vimokha. See Rh. D. 'Buddhist Suttas,' pp. 52, 213. The idea of resistance, patigha, is here not ethical, but refers to the senses. Having no sense of reaction to touch, of opposition to muscular effort. It appears from M. I, 164 that this was pretty much the view put forth by Gotama's first teacher Âlâra Kâlâma.}
For there is a further soul, which having passed beyond the plane of the infinity of space, knowing that consciousness is infinite, reaches up to the plane of the infinity of consciousness{1}. This you neither know of nor perceive. But I know and have experienced it. And since this soul, on the dissolution of the body, is cut off and destroyed, does not continue after death, then is it, Sir, that the soul is completely annihilated." Thus is it that some maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being.
15. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the whole soul, Sir, is not then completely annihilated. For there is a further soul, which by passing quite beyond the plane of the infinity of consciousness, knowing that there is nothing, reaches up to the plane of no obstruction{2}. This you neither know of nor perceive. But I know and have experienced it. And since this soul, on the dissolution of the body, is cut off and destroyed, does not continue after death, then is it, Sir, that the soul is completely annihilated." Thus is it that some maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being.
16. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the whole soul, Sir, is not then completely annihilated. For there is a further soul, which by passing quite beyond the plane of no obstruction, realises 'This is good, this is excellent,' and reaches up to the plane of neither ideas nor the absence of ideas{3}. This you
{1. Compare the 5th Vimokha. This seems from M. I, 165 to have been much the same as the view held by Râma, whose son and pupil, Uddaka, was Gotama's second teacher.
2. Compare the 6th Vimokha.
3. Though it is not explicitly so stated, this last of these seven theorisers is no doubt to be considered as believing in all the sorts of soul held by the others, so that he believes in seven. One may compare the five souls each more subtle than the last, made respectively of anna, prâna, manas, vigñâna, and ânanda (food, breath, mind, consciousness, and joy), described in the Taittirîya Upanishad II, 1-5. The Buddhist modification of these theories omits the souls, and treats instead of various states of mind (produced by stages of meditation), the attainment of which, during this life, leads to rebirth in corresponding worlds, or planes of existence, named after those stages of meditations. But the oldest Pitaka texts say very little about it, and the history of Buddhist speculation on the matter has yet to be formulated.
Centuries afterwards we find a somewhat analogous conception in the gradually ascending series of seven, each more subtle than the last (Sthûla-sarira, linga-sarîra, indriya, manas, ahankara, buddhi, and âtman), set out in the Sânkhya texts, and the later Vedânta has a similar series. There is sufficient truth in the idea or the series of seven set out in our text to explain the persistence of the general idea in all the Indian systems, but the details and the application are strikingly different.
The text shows that the four Arûpa Vimokhas of the Buddhist theory were regarded by the early Buddhists as derived from closely allied speculations, older than Buddhism, and expressed in almost identical phraseology.}
neither know of, nor perceive. But I know and have experienced it. And since this soul, on the dissolution of the body, is cut off, destroyed, does not continue after death, then is it, Sir, that the soul is completely annihilated." Thus is it that some maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being.
17. 'These, brethren, are the recluses and Brahmans who are Annihilationists and in seven ways maintain the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being. [36] And whosoever do so they, all of them, do so in one or other of these seven ways. There is none beside.
18. [Repetition of § 40, above p. 44, setting forth that other, higher, knowledge of a Tathâgata, for which alone he can be rightly praised.]
19. 'There are, brethren, recluses and Brahmans who hold the doctrine of happiness in this life, who in five ways maintain the complete salvation, in this visible world, of a living being. And relying on what, starting out from what, do they do so?
20. 'Hereon, brethren, some recluse or Brahman may have the following opinion, the following view: "Whensoever the soul, in full enjoyment and possession
of the five pleasures of sense, indulges all its functions, then, Sir, the soul has attained, in this visible world, to the highest Nirvâna{1}." Thus do some maintain the complete happiness, in the visible world, of a living being.
21. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the soul does not by that alone attain to the highest Nirvâna. And why not? Sensuous delights, Sir, are transitory, they involve pain, their very nature is to fluctuate. And grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow, and loathing arise out of their inconstancy and change. [37] But whensoever the soul, putting away sensuous delights and evil dispositions, enters into and abides in the First Ghâna, the state of joy and ease, born of seclusion, accompanied by reflection, accompanied by investigation, then, Sir, has the soul attained, in this visible world, to the highest Nirvâna." Thus do some maintain the complete happiness, in the visible world, of a living being.
22. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the soul does not by that alone attain to the highest Nirvâna. And why not? Because inasmuch as that state involves reasoning and investigation it is stamped as being gross. But whensoever, Sir, the soul, suppressing both reasoning and investigation, enters into and abides in the Second Ghâna, the state of joy and ease, born of serenity, without reflection or investigation, a state of elevation of mind, internal calm of heart, then, Sir, has the soul attained, in this visible world, to the highest Nirvâna." Thus do some maintain the complete happiness, in the visible world, of a living being.
{1. Buddhaghosa here (Sum. I, 12') explains Nirvâna as the suppression of pain; pain, dukha, being bodily, as opposed to domanassa, mental. 'In this visible world' means in whatever world the particular soul happens to be at the time. On parikâreti compare V. II, 290 râgâ uyyâne parikâresi, 'the king indulged himself, enjoyed himself, in the garden.' 'All its functions' is added from the Commentary.}
23. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the soul does not by that alone attain to the highest Nirvâna. And why not? Because inasmuch as that state involves the sense of joy, of exhilaration of heart, it is stamped as being gross. But whensoever, Sir, the soul, by absence of the longing after joy remains in equanimity, mindful and self-possessed, and experiences in the body that ease of which the Arahats speak (when they say) 'the man serene and thoughtful dwells at ease,' and so enters into and abides in the Third Ghâna--then, Sir, has the soul attained, in this visible world, to the highest Nirvâna." Thus do some maintain the complete happiness, in the visible world, of a living being.
24. 'To him another says: "There is, Sir, such a soul as you describe. That I do not deny. But the soul does not by that alone attain to the highest Nirvâna. And why not? Because inasmuch as that state involves a constant dwelling of the mind on the ease it has enjoyed it is stamped as gross. [38] But whensoever, Sir, the soul, by putting away ease, by putting away pain. by the previous dying away both of joys and griefs has entered into and abides in the Fourth Ghâna{1}--a state made pure by self-possession and equanimity, without pain arid without ease--then, Sir, has the soul attained, in this visible world, to the highest Nirvâna." Thus do some maintain the complete happiness, in the visible world, of a living being.
25. 'These, brethren, are the recluses and Brahmans who hold the doctrine of happiness in this life, who in five ways maintain the complete salvation, in this visible world, of a living being. And those who do
{1. The text shows that the four Ghânas were regarded by the early Buddhists as older than Buddhism. The very words used are identical; the only modification introduced in Buddhism being the omission of the 'souls.' These four, together with the four Arûpa Vimokhas (see note on § 19), make up the right Attainments (Samâpattiyo), often mentioned in the Gâtaka commentary as practised by pre-Buddhistic recluses.}
so, all of them, do so in one or other of these five ways. There is none beside.
26. [Repetition of § 40, above p. 44, setting forth that other, higher, knowledge of a Tathâgata, for which alone he ean be rightly praised.]
27. 'These, brethren, are the recluses and Brahmans who arrange the future, whose speculations are concerned with the future, and who on forty-four grounds put forward various assertions regarding the future. And those who do so, all of them, do so in one or other of these forty-four ways. There is none beside.
28. [Repetition of § 40, above p. 44, setting forth that other, higher, knowledge of a Tathâgata, for which alone he can be rightly praised.]
[39] 29. 'These, brethren, are the recluses and Brahmans who reconstruct the past, and arrange the future, or who do both, whose speculations are concerned with both, and who in sixty-two ways put forward propositions with regard to the past and to the future, and those who do so, all of them, do so in one or other of these sixty-two ways. There is none beside.
30. [Repetition of § 40, above p. 44, setting forth that other, higher, knowledge of a Tathâgata, for which alone he can be rightly praised.]
[40] 32. 'Of these, brethren, those recluses and Brahmans who are Eternalists, who in four ways maintain that the soul and the world are eternal:
(2) those who are Semi-eternalists, who in four ways maintain that the soul and the world are partly eternal and partly not:
(3) those who are Extensionists, who in four ways maintain the infinity or the finiteness of the world:
(4) those who are Eel-wrigglers, who when a question is put to them on this or that resort, in four ways, to equivocation, to wriggling like eels:
(5) those who are Fortuitous-Originists, who in two ways maintain that the soul and the world arose without a cause:
(6) those who in any of these eighteen ways reconstruct the past:
(7) those who hold the doctrine of a conscious existence after death, who maintain in sixteen ways that the soul after death is conscious:
(8) those who hold the doctrine of an unconscious existence after death, who maintain in eight ways that the soul after death is unconscious:
(9) those who maintain in eight ways that the soul after death is neither conscious nor unconscious:
(10) those who are Annihilationists, who maintain in seven ways the cutting off, the destruction, the annihilation of a living being:
(11) those who hold the doctrine of happiness in this life, who in five ways maintain the complete salvation, in this visible world, of a living being--
That opinion of theirs is based only on the personal sensations, on the worry and writhing consequent thereon{1}, of those venerable recluses and Brahmans, who know not, neither perceive, and are subject to all kinds of craving:
45 foll. [41, 42] 'Those opinions of theirs are therefore based upon contact (through the senses).
58 foll. [43] 'That they should experience those sensations without such contact, such a condition of things could not be.
71. [44] 'They, all of them, receive those sensations through continual contact in the spheres of touch. To them on account of the sensations arises craving, on account of the craving arises the fuel (that is, the necessary condition, the food, the basis, of future lives). from the fuel results becoming, from the tendency to become arises rebirth, and from rebirth comes death, and grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow, and despair. It is, brethren, when a brother understands,
{1. On paritasita compare M. I. 36 na asati paritassati, 'is not worried at what is not': paritassanâ,'fidgetiness' or 'worry,' at M. I, 136; S. III, 15-19; and Mil. 253, 400. On vipphandita, M. I, 8, 486; Dh. S. 381 (Asl. 253); Gât. IV, 495.}
as they really are, the origin and the end, the attraction, the danger, and the way of escape from the six realms of contact, that he gets to know what is above, beyond, them all{1}.
72. [45] 'For whosoever, brethren, whether recluses or Brahmans, are thus reconstructors of the past or arrangers of the future, or who are both, whose speculations are concerned with both, who put forward various propositions with regard to the past and to the future, they, all of them, are entrapped in the net of these sixty-two modes; this way and that they plunge about, but they are in it; this way and that they may flounder, but they are included in it, caught in it.
'Just, brethren, as when a skilful fisherman or fisherlad should drag a tiny pool of water with a fine-meshed net he might fairly think: "Whatever fish of size may be in this pond, everyone will be in this net; flounder about as they may, they will be included in it, and caught"--just so is it with these speculators about the past and the future, in this net, flounder as they may, they are included and caught. [46]
73. 'The outward form, brethren, of him who has won the truth{2}, stands before you, but that which binds it to rebirth is cut in twain. So long as his body shall last, so long do gods and men behold him. On the dissolution of the body, beyond the end of his life, neither gods nor men shall see him.
'Just, brethren, as when the stalk of a bunch of mangoes has been cut, all the mangoes that were hanging on that stalk go with it; just so, brethren, though the outward form of him who has won the truth stands before you, that which binds it to rebirth has been cut in twain. So long as his body shall last, so long do gods and men behold him. On the dissolution of the body, beyond the end of his life, neither gods nor men shall see him.'
{1. In the text the first three of these four propositions are repeated, of each of the eleven classes of theorisers. The fourth is put in the form which, to avoid repetition, I have adopted for all the four.
2. Tathâgata, that is the speaker himself, the Buddha.}
74. When he had thus spoken, the venerable Ananda said to the Blessed One: 'Strange, Lord, is this, and wonderful! And what name has this exposition of the truth?'
'Ananda, you may remember this exposition as the Net of Advantage, and as the Net of Truth, and as the Supreme Net, and as the Net of Theories; remember it even as the Glorious Victory in the day of battle!'
Thus spake the Blessed One, and glad at heart the brethren exalted his word. And on the delivery of this discourse the thousandfold world-system shook.
Here ends the Brahma-gâla Sutta.
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