1:2 Dhaniya the Cattleman

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The Buddha: "A raft, well-made, has been lashed together.4 Having crossed over, gone to the far shore, Iâve subdued the flood. No need for a raft is to be found5: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain." Dhaniya: "My wife is composed, not wanton, is charming, has lived with me long. I hear no evil about her at all: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain." The Buddha: "My mind is composed, released, has long been nurtured, well tamed. No evil is to be found in me: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain." Dhaniya: "I support myself on my earnings. My sons live in harmony, free from disease. I hear no evil about them at all: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain." The Buddha: "Iâm in no oneâs employ,6 I wander the whole world on the reward [of my Awakening]. No need for earnings is to be found: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain." Dhaniya: "There are cows, young bulls, cows in calf, & breeding cows, & a great bull, the leader of the herd: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain." The Buddha: "There are no cows, no young bulls, no cows in calf or breeding cows, no great bull, the leader of the herd7: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain." Dhaniya: "The stakes are dug-in, immovable. The new muā±ja-grass halters, well-woven, not even young bulls could break: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain." The Buddha: "Having broken my bonds like a great bull, like a great elephant tearing a rotting vine,8 I never again will lie in the womb: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain."9 The great cloud rained down straightaway, filling the lowlands & high. Hearing the rain-god pour down, Dhaniya said: "How great our gain that weâve gazed on the Blessed One! We go to him, the One with Eyes,10 for refuge. May you be our teacher, Great Sage. My wife & I are composed. Letâs follow the holy life under the One Well-Gone. Gone to the far shore of aging & death, letâs put an end to suffering & stress." Mṅra:11 "Those with children delight because of their children. Those with cattle delight because of their cows. A personâs delight comes from acquisitions, for a person with no acquisitions doesnât delight." The Buddha: "Those with children grieve precisely because of their children. Those with cattle grieve precisely because of their cows. A personâs grief comes from acquisitions, for a person with no acquisitions doesnât grieve."12 vv.18–34 Notes 1. Dhaniya Gopa: literally, One Whose Wealth is in Cattle. According to SnA, his herd consisted of 30,000 head of cattle. 2. The first line in the Buddhaâs verse plays on words in the first line of Dhaniyaâs. "Free from anger" (akkodhano) plays on "rice is cooked" (pakkodano); and "rigidity" (khilo) plays on "milk" (khīro). 3. "Open" means having a mind not covered or concealed by craving, defilement, or ignorance. This image is also used at Ud 5:5 and Sn 4:4. "My fire out" refers to the fires of passion, aversion, & delusion; birth, aging, & death; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. See SN 35:28; Iti 93; and The Mind Like Fire Unbound. 4. The raft stands for the noble eightfold path. See MN 22 and SN 35:197. 5. As this verse doesnât seem to be a direct response to the preceding one, SnA suggests that we are missing part of the conversation here. An alternative possibility is that the Buddha is engaging in word play—the word "crossed over" (tiṃṃa) being a pun on Dhaniyaâs reference to grass (tiṃa). 6. According to SnA, the Buddha is not in anyone elseâs employ nor even in his own employ—i.e., he is not in the employ of craving. 7. The Buddha may be speaking literally here—he has no cattle, so there is no way that a heavy rain could cause him harm—but he may also be speaking metaphorically. See SN 4:19 and Thag 1:1. 8. See MN 66. 9. This verse is quoted in the Milinda Paā±hṅ. 10. On the theme of the Buddha as "One with Eyes," see DN 16, note 44. See also, Sn 2:12, note 2. 11. According to SnA, Mṅra suddenly comes on the scene to try—unsuccessfully—to prevent Dhaniya and his wife from going forth. His verses here, together with the Buddhaâs response, are also found at SN 4:8. 12. See Sn 3:12, note 2. See also: SN 4:8; AN 3:35; AN 3:110; AN 7:6-7; Ud 2:10; Thig 1:1 - --> - - - -