Saṁyutta Nikāya 10: Yakkhasaṁyutta

Connected Discourses with Yakkhas

1. Indaka

1Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha on Mount Inda’s Peak, the haunt of the yakkha Indaka.558 Spk: This was the yakkha who dwelt on Inda’s Peak. Sometimes a peak is named after a yakkha, sometimes a yakkha after a peak. Then the yakkha Indaka approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:

2, 802 “As the Buddhas say that form is not the soul,
How then does one obtain this body?
From where do one’s bones and liver come?
How is one begotten in the womb?”559 Spk glosses sajjati in pāda d with laggati tiṭṭhati, “sticks, persists,” apparently taking sajjati as equivalent to Skt sajyate (see MW, s.v. sañj (2)). But the word may be a passive representing Skt sṛjyati for which MW (s.v. sṛj) lists as meanings “to create, procreate, beget, produce.” I translate on the assumption that this is the original derivation. See too PED, s.v. sajati (1). Spk says that this yakkha was a personalist (puggalavādī) who held the view that a being is produced in the womb at a single stroke (ekappahāren’ eva satto mātukucchismiṁ nibbattati). The Buddha’s answer is intended to refute the yakkha’s belief by showing that a being develops gradually (anupubbena pana vaḍḍhati).

[The Blessed One:]

3, 803 “First there is the kalala;
From the kalala comes the abbuda;
From the abbuda the pesī is produced;
From the pesī the ghana arises;
From the ghana emerge the limbs,
The head-hair, body-hair, and nails.

4, 804 And whatever food the mother eats—
The meals and drink that she consumes—
By this the being there is maintained,
The person inside the mother’s womb.”560 The Pāli terms refer to the different stages in the formation of the embryo. Spk: The kalala is the size of a drop of oil placed on the tip of a thread made from three strands of wool. After a week from the kalala comes the abbuda, which is the colour of meat-washing water. After another week, from the abbuda the pesī is produced, which is similar to molten tin [Spk-pṭ: in shape, but in colour it is pink]. After still another week, from the pesī the ghana arises, which has the shape of a chicken egg. In the fifth week, from the ghana emerge the limbs: five pimples appear, the rudiments of the arms, legs, and head. But the head-hairs, body-hairs, and nails are not produced until the forty-second week.

2. Sakkanāmaka

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha on Mount Vulture Peak. Then the yakkha Sakkanāmaka approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:

2, 805 “Having abandoned all the knots
As one fully released,
It isn’t good for you, an ascetic,
To be instructing others.”561 Spk: This yakkha, it is said, belonged to Māra’s faction (mārapakkhika-yakkha). His verse parallels Māra’s reproach to the Buddha at v. 474, and the Buddha’s reply echoes v. 475. Spk-pṭ explains the purport to be that the wise man’s compassion and sympathy are not tainted by worldly affection.

[The Blessed One:]

3, 806 “If, O Sakka, for some reason
Intimacy with anyone should arise,
The wise man ought not to stir his mind
With compassion towards such a person.

4, 807 “But if with a mind clear and pure
He gives instructions to others,
He does not become fettered
By his compassion and sympathy.”562 Spk glosses vaṇṇena with kāraṇena (as in v. 796c; see n. 555), and Spk-pṭ glosses yena kena ci with gahaṭṭhena vā pabbajitena vā, “with a householder or one gone forth,” thus separating it from vaṇṇena and treating it as an expression of personal reference. The purport of the Buddha’s verses is that a wise man should not take to instructing others if he is at risk of becoming attached, but he may do so out of compassion when his mind is purified and his sympathy is not tainted by worldly affection. [207]

3. Sūciloma

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Gayā at the Ṭaṅkita Bed, the haunt of the yakkha Sūciloma.563 This sutta is also at Sn II, 5 (pp. 47-49) and commented on at Pj II 301-5. The name of this yakkha means “Needlehair”; he was called thus because his body was covered with needle-like hairs. According to Spk, he had been a bhikkhu under the Buddha Kassapa but was unable to attain any distinction. During the time of the Buddha Gotama he was reborn as a yakkha in the rubbish dump at the entrance to Gayā village. The Buddha saw that he had the potential for attaining the path of stream-entry and went to his haunt in order to teach him. His haunt, the Ṭaṅkita Bed, was made of a stone slab mounted on four other stones. Now on that occasion the yakkha Khara and the yakkha Sūciloma were passing by not far from the Blessed One. Then the yakkha Khara said to the yakkha Sūciloma: “That is an ascetic.”

2“That is not an ascetic; that is a sham ascetic.564 Spk: He spoke thus thinking, “One who gets frightened and flees when he sees me is a sham ascetic (samaṇaka); one who does not get frightened and flee is an ascetic (samaṇa). This one, having seen me, will get frightened and flee.” I’ll soon find out whether he is an ascetic or a sham ascetic.”

3Then the yakkha Sūciloma approached the Blessed One and bent over the Blessed One. The Blessed One drew back. Then the yakkha Sūciloma said to the Blessed One: “Are you afraid of me, ascetic?”

4“I’m not afraid of you, friend. It is just that your touch is evil.”565 Spk: The yakkha assumed a frightful manifestation, opened his mouth wide, and raised his needle-like hairs all over his body. His touch is “evil” (pāpaka) and should be avoided like excrement, fire, or a poisonous snake. When the Buddha said this, Sūciloma became angry and spoke as follows.

5“I’ll ask you a question, ascetic. If you won’t answer me, I’ll drive you insane or I’ll split your heart or I’ll grab you by the feet and hurl you across the Ganges.”

6“I do not see anyone in this world, friend, with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans, who could drive me insane or split my heart or grab me by the feet and hurl me across the Ganges. But ask whatever you want, friend.”

7, 808 “What is the source of lust and hatred?
Whence spring discontent, delight, and terror?
Having arisen from what do the mind’s thoughts
[Toss one around] as boys toss up a crow?”566 In all eds. of SN, and most eds. of Sn, as well as their respective commentaries, vv. 808d, 809d read: Kumārakā dhaṅkam iv’ ossajanti. A v.l. vaṅkam (in place of dhaṅkam) is found in several mss of Sn (vv. 270-71) and has been incorporated into Sn (Ee1). Dhaṅkam (< Skt dvāṅkṣam) was certainly the reading known to the commentators, for both Spk and Pj II 303,22 foll. gloss the word with kākaṁ, crow, which they would not have done if vaṅkam was the reading. Spk glosses ossajanti with khipanti, and explains the simile: “Little boys bind a crow by its feet with a long cord, tie one end of the cord around their fingers, and release the crow. After the crow has gone some distance, it falls down again at their feet.” Spk paraphrases the question thus: “Whence do evil thoughts rise up and toss the mind?” (pāpavitakkā kuto samuṭṭhāya cittaṁ ossajanti). This seems to separate mano and vitakkā and to treat mano as accusative. I prefer to retain manovitakkā as a compound (as is clearly the case at v. 34b) and to see the object of ossajanti as merely implicit, namely, oneself, the very source from which the thoughts arise, as v. 810a asserts with the expression attasambhūtā.
Norman, who also accepts dhaṅkam, discusses the problem at GD, p. 200, n. to 270-71. For an alternative rendering based on the reading vaṅkam, see Ñāṇananda, SN-Anth 2:13, 89-90. The Skt version cited at Ybhūś 11.1 reads kumārakā dhātrīm ivāśrayante, “as little boys depend on a wet-nurse” (Enomoto, CSCS, p. 59).

[The Blessed One:]

8, 809 “Lust and hatred have their source here;
From this spring discontent, delight, and terror;
Having arisen from this, the mind’s thoughts
[Toss one around] as boys toss up a crow.567 Itonidānā. Spk: “This individual existence (attabhāva) is their source; they have sprung up from this individual existence. As boys at play toss up a crow, so do evil thoughts rise up from this individual existence and toss the mind [Spk-pṭ: by not giving an opening for wholesome states of mind to occur].” Spk-pṭ: In the application of the simile, the evil thoughts are like the boys at play; this world of our individual existence is like the world in which the boys have arisen; the mind is like the crow; and the fetter (saṁyojana) which follows one to a distance is like the long thread tied around the crow’s feet.

9, 810 “Sprung from affection, arisen from oneself,
Like the trunk-born shoots of the banyan tree;
Manifold, clinging to sensual pleasures,
Like a māluvā creeper stretched across the woods. 568 Like the trunk-born shoots of the banyan tree (nigrodhasseva khandhajā). The banyan tree, and other related species of fig trees, “develop from their branches aerial roots that may reach the ground and thicken into ‘pillar-roots’ or subsidiary trunks. The continually expanding system of new trunks, all connected through the branches, may support a crown up to 2,000 feet in circumference” (Emeneau, “The Strangling Figs in Sanskrit Literature,” p. 346). Emeneau quotes Milton’s Paradise Lost, IX, 1100-11, “the locus classicus on these trees in English literature”: The Figtree … spreds her Armes

[208]

10, 811 “Those who understand their source,
They dispel it—listen, O yakkha!—
They cross this flood so hard to cross,
Uncrossed before, for no renewed existence.”569 Spk paraphrases: “Those who understand their source of this individual existence dispel it, that is, with the truth of the path, they dispel the truth of the origin (= craving), which is the source of the truth of suffering that consists in this individual existence. By driving away the truth of the origin, they cross this hard-to-cross flood of defilements, uncrossed before in this beginningless saṁsāra even in a dream, for no renewed existence, for the sake of the truth of cessation (= Nibbāna), which is called ‘no renewed existence’ (apunabbhavāya). Thus with this verse the Master reveals the Four Noble Truths, bringing the discourse to its climax in arahantship. At its conclusion, Sūciloma was established in the fruit of stream-entry. And since stream-enterers do not live on in monstrous bodies, simultaneously with his attainment his needle-hairs all fell out and he obtained the appearance of an earth-deity (bhummadevatāparihāra ).”

4. Maṇibhadda

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Magadhans at the Maṇimālaka Shrine, the haunt of the yakkha Maṇibhadda. Then the yakkha Maṇibhadda approached the Blessed One and in the Blessed One’s presence recited this verse:

2, 812 “It is always good for the mindful one,
The mindful one thrives in happiness.
It is better each day for the mindful one,
And he is freed from enmity.”570 Spk glosses sukham edhati in pāda a as sukhaṁ paṭilabhati, “obtains happiness.” CPD points out (s.v. edhati) that this interpretation is probably a misunderstanding stemming from the supposition that sukham is a direct object of the verb rather than an adverbial accusative. The original meaning appears in the commentarial gloss on the expression sukhedhito as sukhasaṁvaddhito. See too EV I, n. to 475. Spk glosses suve seyyo in pāda c as suve suve seyyo, niccam eva seyyo; “It is better morrow upon morrow, it is always better.”

[The Blessed One:]

3, 813 “It is always good for the mindful one,
The mindful one thrives in happiness.
It is better each day for the mindful one,
But he is not freed from enmity.

4, 814 “One whose mind all day and night
Takes delight in harmlessness,
Who has lovingkindness for all beings—
For him there is enmity with none.”571 Spk: Ahiṁsāya, “in harmlessness,” means “in compassion and in the preliminary stage of compassion” [Spk-pṭ: that is, the access to the first jhāna produced by the meditation on compassion]. Mettaṁ so, “who has lovingkindness,” means “he (so) develops lovingkindness (mettaṁ) and the preliminary stage of lovingkindness.” [Spk-pṭ: He (so) is the person developing meditation on compassion.] Evidently Spk and Spk-pṭ take so in pāda c to be the demonstrative counterpart of yassa in pāda a, with an implicit transitive verb bhāveti understood. While the exact meaning of mettaṁ so (or mettaṁso) is problematic, I prefer to take pāda c as an additional relative clause, the relatives being resolved only in pāda d by the clearly demonstrative tassa. Spk offers an alternative interpretation of mettaṁso as a compound of mettā and aṁsa, glossed as koṭṭhāsa, “portion”: mettā aṁso etassā ti mettaṁso; “one for whom lovingkindness is a portion (of his character) is mettaṁso.” Mp IV 71,9 glosses mettaṁso: mettāyamānacittakoṭṭhāso hutvā; “having become one for whom a loving mind is a portion”; see too It-a I 95,13-15. Brough remarks that mitrisa (in G-Dhp 198) “appears to have been interpreted by the Prakrit translator as equivalent to [Skt] maitrī asya” (Gāndhārī Dharmapada, p. 242, n. 198).
Spk-pṭ: Because of his own hating mind someone might nurture enmity even towards an arahant who lacks meditation on lovingkindness and compassion. But no one could nurture enmity towards one who is endowed with liberation of mind through lovingkindness and compassion. So powerful is the meditation on the divine abodes (evaṁ mahiddhikā brahmavihāra-bhāvanā).

5. Sānu

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. Now on that occasion a certain female lay follower had a son named Sānu who had been possessed by a yakkha.572 The background story, related in Spk, is also found at Dhp-a IV 18-25, which includes the verses as well; see BL 3:207-11. In brief: Sānu was a devout novice who, on reaching maturity, had become dissatisfied with the monk’s life and had returned to his mother’s house intending to disrobe. His mother, after pleading with him to reconsider his decision, went to prepare a meal for him, and just then a female yakkha—his mother from the previous life, who was also anxious to prevent him from disrobing—took possession of him and threw him down to the ground, where he lay quivering with rolling eyes and foaming mouth. When his present mother returned to the room, she found him in this condition. Then that female lay follower, lamenting, on that occasion recited these verses:

2, 816 “With those who lead the holy life,573 I follow the reading in Be. Ee1 & Ee2 insert another verse here (v. 815 in Ee2), but since this verse seems to be the product of a scribal error I do not translate it. The Be reading is supported by the Dhp-a version. Se reads as in Be, but with yā va in place of yā ca in the second pāda of both the exclamation and the reply. In order to translate in accordance with natural English syntax, I have had to invert lines of the Pāli in a way which crosses over the division of verses in the Pāli text. The Uposatha complete in eight factors (aṭṭhasusamāgataṁ uposathaṁ): On the Uposatha, see n. 513. Besides the two major Uposathas falling on the full-moon and new-moon days (respectively the fifteenth, and either the fourteenth or fifteenth, of the fortnight), minor Uposathas fall on the half-moon days, the eighths of the fortnight. Lay people observe the Uposatha by taking upon themselves the Eight Precepts (aṭṭhaṅga-sīla), a stricter discipline than the Five Precepts of daily observance. These entail abstaining from: (1) taking life, (2) stealing, (3) all sexual activity, (4) false speech, (5) taking intoxicants, (6) eating past noon, (7) dancing, singing, listening to music, seeing improper shows, and using personal ornaments and cosmetics, and (8) using high and luxurious beds and seats. For more on the Uposatha duties for the laity, see AN IV 248-62.
And during special periods (pātihāriyapakkhañ ca). Spk explains this as if it meant the days proximate to the Uposatha: “This is said with reference to those who undertake the Uposatha observances on the seventh and ninth of the fortnight too (in addition to the eighth), and who also undertake the practices on the days preceding and following the Uposatha on the fourteenth or fifteenth (the full-moon and new-moon observance days). Further, following the Pavāraṇā day (see n. 513) they observe the Uposatha duties continuously for a fortnight [Spk-pṭ: that is, during the waning fortnight].” Different explanations of the expression pātihāriyapakkha are given at Mp II 234 and Pj II 378.

Who observe the Uposatha days
Complete in eight factors
On the fourteenth or fifteenth,

3, 817 And on the eighths of the fortnight,
And during special periods,
The yakkhas do not sport around:
So I have heard from the arahants.
But now today I see for myself
The yakkhas sporting with Sānu.”

[The yakkha that has entered Sānu:] [209]

4, 818 “With those who lead the holy life,
Who observe the Uposatha days
Complete in eight factors
On the fourteenth or fifteenth,

5, 819 And on the eighths of the fortnight,
And during special periods,
The yakkhas do not sport around:
What you heard from the arahants is good.

6, 820 “When Sānu has awakened tell him
This injunction of the yakkhas:
Do not do an evil deed
Either openly or in secret.

7, 821 If you should do an evil deed,
Or if you are doing one now,
You won’t be free from suffering
Though you fly up and flee.”574 Spk glosses uppaccā pi as uppatitvā pi, and paraphrases: “Even if you fly up like a bird and flee, there will still be no freedom for you.” The same verse is at Thı̄ 247c-248b, Pv 236, Ud 51,17-18, Peṭ 44,20-21, and Nett 131,19-20. These versions (except Pv) read the absolutive as upecca, with a strange gloss sañcicca in their commentaries; Pv follows SN, but its commentary recognizes upecca as a v.l. A parallel is at Uv 9:4, with the absolutive utplutya. See von Hinüber, “On the Tradition of Pāli Texts in India, Ceylon, and Burma,” pp. 51-53.

[Sānu:]

8, 822 “They weep, mother, for the dead
Or for one living who isn’t seen.
When you see, mother, that I’m alive,
Why, O mother, do you weep for me?”

[Sānu′s mother:]

9, 823 “They weep, O son, for the dead
Or for one living who isn’t seen;
But when one returns to the home life
After renouncing sensual pleasures,
They weep for this one too, my son,
For though alive he’s really dead.576 See 20:10 (II 271,13-14): “For this is death in the Noble One’s Discipline: that one gives up the training and returns to the lower life.”

10, 824 “Drawn out, my dear, from hot embers,
You wish to plunge into hot embers;
Drawn out, my dear, from an inferno,
You wish to plunge into an inferno.577 Spk: She says this to show the danger in household life; for household life is called “hot embers” (kukkuḷā) in the sense of being hot. Kukkuḷā is also at 22:136.

11, 825 “Run forward, good luck be with you!
To whom could we voice our grief?
Being an item rescued from the fire,
You wish to be burnt again.”578 Spk paraphrases kassa ujjhāpayāmase, in pāda b, thus: “When you were intent on disrobing and had been possessed by the yakkha, to whom could we have voiced our grief (complained), to whom could we have appealed and reported this ( kassa mayaṁ ujjhāpayāma nijjhāpayāma ārocayāma)?” On pāda cd: “When you went forth into the Buddha’s Teaching, drawn out from the household, you were like an item rescued from a blazing house. But now you wish to be burnt again in the household life, which is like a great conflagration.” According to Spk, the yakkha’s intervention proved effective. After listening to his mother, Sānu gave up his idea of disrobing, received the higher ordination, mastered the Buddha’s teachings, and quickly attained arahantship. He became a great preacher who lived to the age of 120.

6. Piyaṅkara

1On one occasion the Venerable Anuruddha was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. Now on that occasion the Venerable Anuruddha, having risen at the first flush of dawn, was reciting stanzas of Dhamma. Then the female yakkha Piyaṅkara’s Mother hushed her little child thus:

2, 826 “Do not make a sound, Piyaṅkara,
A bhikkhu recites Dhamma-stanzas.
Having understood a Dhamma-stanza,
We might practise for our welfare.

3, 827 “Let us refrain from harming living beings,
Let us not speak a deliberate lie,
We should train ourselves in virtue:
Perhaps we’ll be freed from the goblin realm.”

7. Punabbasu

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. [210] Now on that occasion the Blessed One was instructing, exhorting, inspiring, and gladdening the bhikkhus with a Dhamma talk concerning Nibbāna. And those bhikkhus were listening to the Dhamma with eager ears, attending to it as a matter of vital concern, applying their whole mind to it. Then the female yakkha Punabbasu’s Mother hushed her little children thus:

2, 828 “Be quiet, Uttarikā,
Be quiet, Punabbasu!
I wish to listen to the Dhamma
Of the Teacher, the Supreme Buddha.

3, 829 “When the Blessed One speaks of Nibbāna,
Release from all the knots,
There has arisen within me
Deep affection for this Dhamma.

4, 830 “In the world one’s own son is dear,
In the world one’s own husband is dear;
But for me the quest for this Dhamma
Has become even dearer than them.

5, 831 “For neither one’s own son nor husband,
Though dear, can release one from suffering
As listening to true Dhamma frees one
From the suffering of living beings.581 Spk explains that pāṇinaṁ in pāda d may be understood as either a genitive plural or an accusative singular representing the plural (= pāṇine): Pāṇinan ti yathā pāṇīnaṁ dukkhā moceti. Ke mocetī ti? Pāṇine ti āharitvā vattabbaṁ.

6, 832 “In this world steeped in suffering,
Fettered by aging and death,
I wish to listen to the Dhamma
That he—the Buddha—fully awakened to,
For freedom from aging and death.
So be quiet, Punabbasu!”582 I follow VĀT’s perspicacious suggestion that pāda d should be read: yaṁ dhammaṁ abhisambudhā, taking the verb as a root aorist (see Geiger, Pāli Grammar, §159, 161.1). Be and Ee2 read abhisambudhaṁ ,Se and Ee1 abhisambuddhaṁ, accusative past participles which seem syntactically out of place. The accusative yaṁ dhammaṁ requires an active transitive verb, yet the only solution Spk can propose is to turn the passive accusative participle into a nominative with active force, a role it is ill-designed to play. Since verb forms from abhisambudh always refer to the Buddha, I have made explicit the verb’s subject, not mentioned as such in the text.

[Punabbasu:]

7, 833 “Mother dear, I am not talking;
This Uttarā is silent, too.
Pay attention only to the Dhamma,
For listening to true Dhamma is pleasant.
Because we have not known true Dhamma
We’ve been living miserably, mother.

8, 834 “He is the maker of light
For bewildered devas and humans;
Enlightened, bearing his final body,
The One with Vision teaches the Dhamma.”

[Punabbasu’s mother:]

9, 835 “It is good that my son has become so wise,
He whom I bore and nursed at my breast.
My son loves the pure Dhamma
Of the Supremely Enlightened One.

10, 836 “Punabbasu, be happy!
Today I have emerged at last.
Hear me too, O Uttarā:
The noble truths are seen!”583 Spk: Having listened to the Buddha’s discourse, the yakkha and her son were established in the fruit of stream-entry. Though the daughter had good supporting conditions, she was too young to understand the discourse.

8. Sudatta

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Cool Grove. Now on that occasion the householder Anāthapiṇḍika had arrived in Rājagaha on some business.584 The story of Anāthapiṇḍika’s first meeting with the Buddha is told in greater detail at Vin II 154-59; see too Ñāṇamoli, Life of the Buddha, pp. 87-91. His given name was Sudatta, “Anāthapiṇḍika” being a nickname meaning “(giver) of alms to the helpless”; he was so called because of his generosity. He heard: “A Buddha, it is said, has arisen in the world!” He wanted to go and see the Blessed One immediately, [211] but it occurred to him: “It is not the right time to go and see the Blessed One today. I will go and see the Blessed One early tomorrow morning.”

2He lay down with his mindfulness directed to the Buddha, and during the night he got up three times thinking it was morning. Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika approached the gate of the charnel ground. Nonhuman beings opened the gate. Then, as the householder Anāthapiṇḍika was leaving the city, the light disappeared and darkness appeared. Fear, trepidation, and terror arose in him and he wanted to turn back. But the yakkha Sīvaka, invisible, made the proclamation:

3, 837 “A hundred [thousand] elephants,
A hundred [thousand] horses,
A hundred [thousand] mule-drawn chariots,
A hundred thousand maidens
Adorned with jewellery and earrings,
Are not worth a sixteenth part
Of a single step forward.586 Spk: The word sahassa (thousand), found only in conjunction with kaññā, should be conjoined with each of the preceding three terms as well. All this is “not worth a sixteenth part of a single step forward” because, when he arrives at the monastery, he will be established in the fruit of stream-entry.

4“Go forward, householder! Go forward, householder! Going forward is better for you, not turning back again.”

5Then the darkness disappeared and light appeared to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika, and the fear, trepidation, and terror that had arisen in him subsided.

6A second time … (verse 838 is included in this repetition) … A third time the light disappeared and darkness appeared before the householder Anāthapiṇḍika. Fear, trepidation, and terror arose in him and he wanted to turn back. But a third time the yakkha Sīvaka, invisible, made the proclamation:

7, 839 “A hundred [thousand] elephants …
Of a single step forward.

8“Go forward, householder! Go forward, householder! Going forward is better for you, not turning back again.”

9Then the darkness [212] disappeared and light appeared to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika, and the fear, trepidation, and terror that had arisen in him subsided.

10Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika approached the Blessed One in the Cool Grove. Now on that occasion the Blessed One, having risen at the first flush of dawn, was walking back and forth in the open. The Blessed One saw the householder Anāthapiṇḍika coming in the distance. He descended from the walkway, sat down in the seat that was prepared, and said to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika: “Come, Sudatta.”587 Spk: While he was approaching, Anāthapiṇḍika wondered how he could determine for himself whether or not the Teacher was a genuine Buddha. He then resolved that if the Teacher was a Buddha he would address him by his given name, Sudatta, known only to himself.

11Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika, thinking, “The Blessed One has addressed me by my name,” [thrilled and elated],588 The words in brackets render haṭṭho udaggo, found in Be only. prostrated himself right on the spot with his head at the Blessed One’s feet and said to him: “I hope, venerable sir, that the Blessed One slept well.”

[The Blessed One:]

12, 840 “Always indeed he sleeps well,
The brahmin who is fully quenched,
Who does not cling to sensual pleasures,
Cool at heart, without acquisitions.

13, 841 “Having cut off all attachments,
Having removed care from the heart,
The peaceful one sleeps well,
Having attained peace of mind.”589 I prefer Se and Ee2 cetaso to Be and Ee1 cetasā. The parallel at AN I 138,3-6 also has cetaso. In the Vinaya version the Buddha next delivers a graduated sermon to Anāthapiṇḍika at the conclusion of which he attains stream-entry.

9. Sukkā (1)

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. Now on that occasion the bhikkhunī Sukkā, surrounded by a large assembly, was teaching the Dhamma. Then a yakkha who had full confidence in the bhikkhunī Sukkā, going from street to street and from square to square in Rājagaha, on that occasion recited these verses:

2, 842 “What has happened to these people in Rājagaha?
They sleep as if they’ve been drinking mead.
Why don’t they attend on Sukkā
As she teaches the deathless state?590 This verse and the next are found, with several variations, at Thı̄ 54-55. Spk glosses kiṁ me katā, in pāda a, with kiṁ ime katā, kiṁ karonti, but I think it more likely that we have here a split bahubbīhi compound kiṁkatā, and I translate accordingly. Be reads pāda b: madhupītā va seyare (Se and Ee2: seyyare; Ee1 and Thı̄ 54: acchare). Spk: They sleep as if they have been drinking sweet mead (Be: gandhamadhupāna; Se: gaṇḍamadhupāna); for it is said that one who drinks this is unable to lift up his head but just lies there unconscious. Spk-pṭ: Gandhamadhu is a particular type of honey that is extremely sweet and intoxicating.
Spk I 338,13-14 (to 11:1) mentions a drink called gandhapāna (in Be; gaṇḍapāna in Se and Ee), an intoxicating beverage (surā) used by the older generation of devas in the Tāvatiṁsa heaven but rejected by Sakka after he assumed rulership over that world. At Dhp-a I 272,9 the drink is called dibbapāna. MW lists gandhapāna, defined as a fragrant beverage. “Madhu denotes anything sweet used as food and especially drink, ‘mead,’ a sense often found in the Rigveda” (Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, s.v. madhu).

3, 843 “But the wise, as it were, drink it up—
That [Dhamma] irresistible,
Ambrosial, nutritious—
As travellers do a cloud.”591 Spk explains appaṭivānīyaṁ (“irresistible”), in pāda a, thus: “Whereas ordinary food, even though very delicious, fails to give pleasure when one eats it again and again and becomes something to be rejected and removed, this Dhamma is different. The wise can listen to this Dhamma for a hundred or a thousand years without becoming satiated.” Spk glosses asecanakam ojavaṁ , in pāda b, as anāsittakaṁ ojavantaṁ, “unadulterated, nourishing,” and explains that unlike material food, which becomes tasty by the addition of condiments, this Dhamma is sweet and nutritious by its own nature. While Spk thus takes asecanaka to be derived from siñcati, to sprinkle, Brough maintains that the word is derived from a different root sek, meaning “to satiate.” He renders it “never causing surfeit” (Gāndhārī Dharmapada, p. 193, n. to 72). See too CPD, s.v. asecanaka, which quotes the traditional Skt explanation from the Amarakośa: tṛpter nāsty anto yasya darśanāt; “that the sight of which gives endless satisfaction.” In Pāli the word is used more in connection with the senses of smell and taste (e.g., at AN III 237,22 and 238,1). My rendering “ambrosial” is intended to suggest the same idea as the Skt definition, but more concisely so that it can also be incorporated into the description of mindfulness of breathing at 54:9 (V 321,22 and 322,1,11).
Pāda d reads: valāhakam iva panthagū (in Be and Ee1; Se and Thı̄ 55 end with addhagū ). Spk: “Like travellers (pathikā) oppressed by the heat (who drink) the water released from within a cloud.”

10. Sukkā (2)

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. [213] Now on that occasion a certain lay follower gave food to the bhikkhunī Sukkā. Then a yakkha who had full confidence in the bhikkhunī Sukkā, going from street to street and from square to square in Rājagaha, on that occasion recited this verse:

2, 844 “He has engendered much merit—
Wise indeed is this lay follower,
Who just gave food to Sukkā,
One released from all the knots.”592 This verse and the next resemble Thı̄ 111, which contains features of both. In pāda d, I prefer vippamuttāya in Se and SS, as against vippamuttiyā in Be and Ee1 & 2. At EV II, n. to 111, Norman suggests, on metrical grounds, inverting pādas c and d, but the resultant meaning seems to undermine the cogency of this suggestion.

11. Cīrā

1On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. Now on that occasion a certain lay follower gave a robe to the bhikkhunī Cīrā. Then a yakkha who had full confidence in the bhikkhunī Cīrā, going from street to street and from square to square in Rājagaha, on that occasion recited this verse:

2, 845 “He has engendered much merit—
Wise indeed is this lay follower,
Who just gave a robe to Cīrā,
One released from all the bonds.”

12. Āḷavaka

1Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Āḷavī, the haunt of the yakkha Āḷavaka.593 This sutta, also found at Sn I, 10 (pp. 31-33), is included in the Sri Lankan Maha Pirit Pota. Spk relates the long background story, of which I sketch only the highlights: One day King Āḷavaka of Āḷavı̄, while on a hunt, was captured by the ferocious yakkha Āḷavaka, who threatened to eat him. The king could obtain release only by promising the demon that he would provide him daily with a human victim. First the king sent the criminals from the prison, but when there were no more prisoners he required every family to provide a child. All the families with children eventually fled to other lands and it became incumbent on the king to offer his own son, the Āḷavaka prince. The Buddha, aware of the impending sacrifice, went to the yakkha’s haunt on the day before the offering was to take place in order to convert the demon from his evil ways. At that time the yakkha was attending a meeting in the Himalayas, but the Buddha entered his cave, sat down on the yakkha’s throne, and preached the Dhamma to his harem ladies. When the yakkha heard about this, he hastened back to Āḷavı̄ in a fury and demanded that the Blessed One leave.
Then the yakkha Āḷavaka approached the Blessed One and said to him: “Get out, ascetic!”

2“All right, friend,” the Blessed One said, and he went out.594 Spk: The Buddha complied with the yakkha’s demands three times because he knew that compliance was the most effective way to soften his mind. But when the yakkha thought to send the Buddha in and out all night long, the Master refused to obey.

3“Come in, ascetic.”

4“All right, friend,” the Blessed One said, and he went in.

5A second time … [214] A third time the yakkha Āḷavaka said to the Blessed One: “Get out, ascetic!”

6“All right, friend,” the Blessed One said, and he went out.

7“Come in, ascetic.”

8“All right, friend,” the Blessed One said, and he went in.

9A fourth time the yakkha Āḷavaka said to the Blessed One: “Get out, ascetic.”

10“I won’t go out, friend. Do whatever you have to do.”

11“I’ll ask you a question, ascetic. If you won’t answer me, I’ll drive you insane or I’ll split your heart or I’ll grab you by the feet and hurl you across the Ganges.”595 Spk: It is said that when he was a child his parents had taught him eight questions and answers which they had learnt from the Buddha Kassapa. As time passed he forgot the answers, but he had preserved the questions written in vermillion on a golden scroll, which he kept in his cave.

12“I do not see anyone in this world, friend, with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans, who could drive me insane or split my heart or grab me by the feet and hurl me across the Ganges. But ask whatever you want, friend.”596 Api ca tvaṁ āvuso puccha yad ākaṅkhasi. Spk: With these words the Buddha extended to him the invitation of an Omniscient One (sabbaññupavāraṇaṁ pavāresi), which cannot be extended by any paccekabuddhas, chief disciples, or great disciples.

[Āḷavaka:]

13, 846 “What here is a man’s best treasure?
What practised well brings happiness?
What is really the sweetest of tastes?
How lives the one who they say lives best?”

[The Blessed One:]

14, 847 “Faith is here a man’s best treasure;
Dhamma practised well brings happiness;
Truth is really the sweetest of tastes;
One living by wisdom they say lives best.”597 Spk: Faith is a man’s best treasure because it brings mundane and supramundane happiness as its result; it alleviates the suffering of birth and aging; it allays poverty with respect to excellent qualities; and it is the means of obtaining the gems of the enlightenment factors, etc. Dhamma here is the ten wholesome qualities, or giving, virtue, and meditation. This brings human happiness, celestial happiness, and in the end the happiness of Nibbāna. By truth here truthful speech is intended, with Nibbāna as the ultimate truth (paramatthasacca) and truth as abstinence (from falsehood; viratisacca) comprised within that. Of the various kinds of tastes, truth is really the sweetest of tastes, truth alone is the sweetest (sādutaraṁ). Or it is the best (sādhutaraṁ), the supreme, the highest. For such tastes as that of roots, etc., nourish only the body and bring a defiled happiness, but the taste of truth nourishes the mind with serenity and insight and brings an undefiled happiness. One living by wisdom (paññājīviṁ jīvitaṁ): A householder lives by wisdom when he works at an honourable occupation, goes for refuge, gives alms, observes the precepts, and fulfils the Uposatha duties, etc. One gone forth as a monk lives by wisdom when he undertakes pure virtue and the superior practices beginning with purification of mind.

[Āḷavaka:]

15, 848 “How does one cross over the flood?
How does one cross the rugged sea?
How does one overcome suffering?
How is one purified?”

[The Blessed One:]

16, 849 “By faith one crosses over the flood,
By diligence, the rugged sea.
By energy one overcomes suffering,
By wisdom one is purified.”598 Spk distributes the four “floods” (ogha) over the four lines of the reply and sees each line as implying a particular path and fruit; on the four floods, see n. 1. Since the faith faculty is the basis for the four factors of stream-entry (see 55:1), the first line shows the stream-enterer, who has crossed the flood of views; the second line shows the once-returner, who by means of diligence has crossed the flood of existence except for one more existence in the sense-sphere world; the third line shows the nonreturner, who has overcome the flood of sensuality, a mass of suffering; and the fourth line shows the path of arahantship, which includes the fully purified wisdom by means of which one crosses over the flood of ignorance. This completes the eight questions that the yakkha had learnt from his parents. When the Buddha finished speaking, bringing his verse to a climax in arahantship, the yakkha was established in the fruit of stream-entry.

[Āḷavaka:]

17, 850 “How does one gain wisdom?599 Spk: When the Buddha said, “By wisdom one is purified,” the yakkha picked up on the word “wisdom” and, through his own ingenuity, asked a question of mixed mundane and supramundane significance.
How does one find wealth?
How does one achieve acclaim?
How bind friends to oneself?
When passing from this world to the next,
How does one not sorrow?”

[The Blessed One:]

18, 851 “Placing faith in the Dhamma of the arahants
For the attainment of Nibbāna,
From desire to learn one gains wisdom
If one is diligent and astute.600 In pāda c, I read sussūsā with Se and Ee1 & 2. Be reads sussūsaṁ as does the lemma of Spk (Be), while the corresponding lemma in Spk (Se) has sussūsā. From the paraphrase (see below) sussūsā can be understood as a truncated instrumental (= sussūsāya). In Be, sussūsaṁ seems to function as an accusative in apposition to paññaṁ, perhaps as the first member of a split compound, i.e., “the wisdom (consisting in) the desire to learn.” Spk: The Blessed One shows here four causes for the gaining of wisdom. First one places faith in the Dhamma by which the arahants—Buddhas, paccekabuddhas, and disciples—attained Nibbāna. By so doing one gains the mundane and supramundane wisdom for the attainment of Nibbāna. But that does not come to pass merely by faith. When faith is born one approaches a teacher, lends an ear, and hears the Dhamma; thus one gains a desire to learn (sussūsaṁ). When one lends an ear and listens from a desire to learn, one gains wisdom. But one must also be diligent (appamatto), in the sense of being constantly mindful, and astute (vicakkhaṇa), able to distinguish what is well spoken and badly spoken. Through faith one enters upon the practice that leads to gaining wisdom. Through a desire to learn (sussūsāya) one carefully listens to the means for acquiring wisdom; through diligence (appamādena) one does not forget what one has learnt; through astuteness (vicakkhaṇatāya) one expands upon what one has learnt. Or else: through a desire to learn one lends an ear and listens to the Dhamma by which one gains wisdom; through diligence one bears in mind the Dhamma heard; by astuteness one examines the meaning and then gradually one realizes the ultimate truth.

19, 852 “Doing what is proper, dutiful,
One with initiative finds wealth. [215]
By truthfulness one wins acclaim;
Giving, one binds friends.
That is how one does not sorrow
When passing from this world to the next.601 Spk: Dutiful (dhuravā) means not neglecting one’s responsibilities and implies mental energy; one with initiative (uṭṭhātā) implies physical energy. I here follow Be; in Se the last two lines come at the end of v. 850; in Ee1, at the end of both v. 852 and v. 853; in Sn, they are attached to neither verse.

20, 853 “The faithful seeker of the household life
In whom dwell these four qualities—
Truth, Dhamma, steadfastness, generosity—
Does not sorrow when he passes on.

21, 854 “Come now, ask others as well,
The many ascetics and brahmins,
Whether there is found here anything better
Than truth, self-control, generosity, and patience.”602 The problem is to correlate the two tetrads mentioned in vv. 853-54. The difficulty arises not only on account of the replacement of dhiti by khantyā in the second verse but also because of the variant readings of the second term. Perhaps the best reading is that in Se, which accords with Sn (Ee) vv. 187-88: in v. 853, saccaṁ dhammo dhiti cāgo; in v. 854, saccā damā cāgā khantyā. Spk (Be) and Spk (Se) differ over the second term: the former has dammo and dammā, the latter dhammo and dhammā. The explanations in Spk-pṭ establish beyond doubt that dhammo and damā were the respective readings known to Dhammapāla. The four qualities mentioned at vv. 853-54 refer back to vv. 851-52. Truth corresponds to truthfulness in v. 852c (sacca in all three instances), while generosity (cāga) clearly corresponds to giving (dadaṁ) in v. 852d. Spk (Se) explains that Dhamma is spoken of (in v. 851c) under the name of wisdom gained through a desire to learn, on which Spk-pṭ comments: “Wisdom is called Dhamma because of bearing up and examining (dhāraṇato upadhāraṇato) entities in accordance with actuality.” (As the verb dhāreti (> dhāraṇa) is the stock etymological explanation of dhamma in the commentaries, we can infer that the author of Spk-pṭ had a text that read dhammo.) Steadfastness (dhiti) is spoken of under the names dutifulness and initiative (in v. 852ab).
In its paraphrase of v. 854, Spk states: “Come now, ask the many ascetics and brahmins whether there is any greater means for winning acclaim than truthfulness; any greater means for gaining mundane and supramundane wisdom than self-control (I suggest reading damā, following Spk-pṭ, which explains that wisdom is so designated because it controls (dameti) the defilements as well as body and speech, etc.); any greater means of binding friends than generosity; and any greater means for finding mundane and supramundane wealth than patience, which is identical with activated energy, (called patience) in the sense that it endures heavy burdens, and which is referred to by the names dutifulness and initiative.”
Thus the correlations can be shown schematically as follows:

[Āḷavaka:]

22, 855 “Why now should I ask this question
Of the many ascetics and brahmins?
Today I have understood
The good pertaining to the future life.603 Although Spk explains attho in pāda d as the visible benefit (diṭṭhadhammika) and samparāyiko as the benefit in a future life, there seems to be no compelling reason not to take the two words at their face value as adjective and noun bearing a single significance, namely, the good pertaining to the future life.

23, 856 “Indeed, for my sake the Buddha came
To reside at Āḷavī.
Today I have understood
Where a gift bears great fruit.

24, 857 “I myself will travel about
From village to village, town to town,
Paying homage to the Enlightened One
And to the excellence of the Dhamma.”604 Spk continues with the background story: Just as the yakkha finished speaking this verse, the sun rose and the king’s men arrived bringing the prince as a sacrificial offering. They handed the infant to the yakkha, who presented him to the Buddha. The Master recited some verses of blessing over the boy and returned him to the king’s men. When the prince reached maturity, he was known as Hatthaka Āḷavaka, because he had been passed around from one person’s hands (hattha) to another’s. He attained the stage of nonreturner and was one of the Buddha’s foremost lay disciples, the chief of those who win followings through the four bases of beneficence (saṅgahavatthu; see AN I 26,7-9). The Buddha holds him up as a model for male lay followers at 17:23 and praises his virtues at AN IV 217-20.

[216]