On the Nṅga Nṅga Sutta (AN 6:43)
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('â', A nṅga! What a nṅga!â? Or is there anything else blessed with a large, massive body that people, on seeing it, say, ),
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('â', A nṅga! What a nṅga!â?" "Udṅyin, itâs on seeing an elephant blessed with a large, massive body that that people say, ),
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('â', A nṅga! What a nṅga!â Itâs on seeing a horse blessed with a large, massive body, a bull blessed with a large, massive body, a serpent blessed with a large, massive body, a tree blessed with a large, massive body, a human being blessed with a large, massive body that people say, ),
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('â', A nṅga! What a nṅga!â "But, Udṅyin, whoever in this world with its devas, Mṅras, & Brahmṅs, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk—does no misdeed1 in body, speech, or mind: Thatâs whom I call a nṅga." "Amazing, lord! Astounding! How that was well-said by the Blessed One: ),
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('â', But, Udṅyin, whoever in this world with its devas, Mṅras, & Brahmṅs, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk, does no misdeed in body, speech, or mind: Thatâs whom I call a nṅga.â And with these verses, lord, I will rejoice in what was well-said by the Blessed One: A human being, self-awakened, his mind tamed, concentrated, traveling along the Brahmṅ road, delighting in the stilling of the mind: He, having gone beyond all dhammas,2 to whom human beings pay homage, the devas pay homage as well— so I have heard from the Worthy One —to him, gone past all fetters, gone from the forest to the clearing,3 delighting in the renunciation of sensuality, released like gold from its ore. He, the nṅga outshining all others, as the Himalayas, rocky hills: Among all things named ),
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('â', nṅga,â he, unexcelled, is truly named. I will praise the nṅga to you— for he does no misdeed. Composure & harmlessness are the nṅgaâs two feet. Austerity & celibacy are the nṅgaâs two other feet. Conviction is the great nṅgaâs trunk, his hand;4 equanimity, his white tusks. Mindfulness his neck; his head, discernment, discrimination, reflection on dhammas; Dhamma the balanced heat of his digestion; seclusion his tail. He, in jhṅna, delighting in assurance, inwardly well-concentrated,5 the nṅga, when going,         is concentrated, when standing, the nṅga is concentrated, when reclining, the nṅga is concentrated, when sitting, the nṅga         is concentrated. Everywhere heâs restrained, the nṅga: That is the nṅgaâs consummation. He eats what is blameless; doesnât eat what is not; on gaining food & clothing, doesnât store it up. Having cut all bonds, fetters tiny & large, wherever he goes, he goes without longing. Like a white lotus, born & growing in the water, but not smeared by the water —fragrant, delightful— even so the awakened one, well-born in the world, lives in the world, but is not smeared by the world, like the lotus, by the water. A great blazing fire unnourished grows calm, and though its embers exist6 is described as unbound: Conveying an instructive meaning, this image is taught by the observant. Great nṅgas will recognize the nṅga as taught by the nṅga as free from passion, free from aversion, free from delusion, effluent-free. His body discarded, the nṅga will totally unbind, effluent-free. Notes 1. Here the Buddha is hinting at a play on words. The Pali phrase here is ṅguṃ na karoti, which could be rephrased as na ṅguṃ karoti, yielding a play on the word nṅga. In his verse below, Ven. Udṅyin shows that he has picked up on the hint by rephrasing it in precisely that way. 2. On the point that arahants have gone beyond all dhammas, see AN 3:137, note 1. 3. Clearing = nibbṅna, which is here presented as a play on the word, vana, or forest. 4. In Pali, an elephantâs trunk is called its "hand" (hattha). In fact, one of the words for "elephant" is hatthin, "one having a hand." 5. Reading ajjhattaṃ susamṅhito with the parallel verse in Thag 15:2. 6. Reading aṃgṅresu ca santesu with the parallel verse in Thag 15:2. The phrase is apparently meant as a play on words, in that santesu can be the locative either of santa, calm, or sant, existing. Either possibility fits into what seems to be the point of this last section of the poem, which is to provide an image to illustrate the difference between the sa-upṅdisesa-nibbṅna of the living arahant—literally, unbinding with fuel remaining—and the anupṅdisesa-nibbṅna of the arahant who has passed away—literally, unbinding with no fuel remaining. In other words, the unbinding of the living arahant is like a fire that has grown calm and whose embers are calm but still warm; the unbinding of the arahant after death is like a fire whose embers have grown totally cold. Iti 44 describes the property of sa-upṅdisesa-nibbṅna as follows: "His [the arahantâs] five sense faculties still remain and, owing to their being intact, he experiences the pleasing & the displeasing, and is sensitive to pleasure & pain. His ending of passion, aversion, & delusion is termed the unbinding property with fuel remaining." Its description of the property of anupṅdisesa-nibbṅna is: "For him, all that is sensed, being unrelished, will grow cold right here. This is termed the unbinding property with no fuel remaining." For further discussion of this distinction, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, chapter 1. See also: MN 1; SN 12:51; AN 9:7; AN 9:62; AN 10:81; Iti 44 - --> - - - -