V : The To-the-Far-Shore Chapter (Pṅrṅyana Vagga)

- suttas - - evening talks - short morning talks - lectures - guided meditations - talk collections - other themes - chants - - - - à¹à¸à¸¢ - Franā§ais - Espaā±ol - - Portuguāªs - РÑÑÑкий - - - УкÑаÑнÑÑка Submit Search - Home - Suttas - KN - Sn - Sn V : Prologue ## Browse Suttas Go to Sutta Nipṅta index Sn index ## V : The To-the-Far-Shore Chapter  (Pṅrṅyana Vagga) ## Prologue From the delightful city of the Kosalans, a brahman [Bṅvarī] who had mastered mantras, aspiring to nothingness,1 went to the Southern country. He, in the land of Assaka, the neighborhood of Muḍaka, on the bank of the Godhṅvarī, lived on gleanings & fruits. Close by was a large village. And with the income from that village he performed a great sacrifice. Having sacrificed the great sacrifice, he returned again to his ashram. As soon as he had entered there, another brahman came along: thirsty, with scratched feet, dirty teeth, dusty head. On arrival, he asked Bṅvarī for five hundred [pieces of money]. Bṅvarī, on seeing him, invited him to sit down, asked after what is pleasant & skillful, and said these words: "Whatever of mine that could be given away, I have disposed of entirely. Forgive me, brahman, I donât have five hundred." "If you donât hand over to me when I ask, within seven days, may your head split into seven pieces." Dissembling, the imposter proclaimed threats. Hearing his words, Bṅvarī was distressed. He wasted away, taking no food, afflicted with the arrow of grief, and, with his mind this way, his heart found no delight in jhṅna. Seeing him nervous & distressed, a devatṅ wishing his welfare, approached Bṅvarī and said these words: "That imposter, wanting money, doesnât discern heads; has no knowledge of heads or the splitting of heads." Bṅvarī: "You, sir, surely know. Explain to me when asked: heads & the splitting of heads. I will listen to your words." The devatṅ: "I too donât know that. I donât have that knowledge. Heads & the splitting of heads: That is surely the insight of Victors." Bṅvarī: "Then who knows surely in this circle of the earth, heads & the splitting of heads? Explain that to me, devatṅ." The devatṅ: "Gone forth from the city of Kapilavatthu, the chief of the world, a descendant of King Okkṅka, a Sakyan-son, a bringer of light: He, brahman, is Rightly Self-Awakened, gone to the far shore of all dhammas; attainer of all direct knowledges & strengths, one with an Eye that sees all dhammas; attainer of the end of all action, released in the ending of acquisitions. He, the One with Eyes, awakened, blessed, teaches the Dhamma. Going to him, you ask him. He will answer you." Hearing the word "Self-Awakened," Bṅvarī was exultant. His grief subsided, and he gained abundant rapture. So Bṅvarī, gratified, exultant, excited, asked the devatṅ: "In which village or town, or in which country is the protector of the world? Going where can we pay homage to the Self-Awakened One, supreme among two-footed beings?" The devatṅ: "In Sṅvatthī, the Kosalan city, is the Victor of vast discernment, of foremost deep intelligence. He, a matchless Sakyan-son, effluent-free, a bull among men, is an expert in the splitting of heads." Then Bṅvarī addressed his students, brahmans who had mastered the mantras, "Come, students, I will explain. Listen to my words. He whose appearance in the world is hard often to gain, has today arisen          in the world, renowned as Self-Awakened. Going quickly to Sṅvatthī, see the one supreme among two-footed beings." The students: "But how, brahman, on seeing him, will we know for sure that heâs the One Self-Awakened? Tell us, who donât know, how we will know him." Bṅvarī: "There have come down in the mantras the marks of a Great Man. Thirty-two are described in all, step by step. One in whose body are the marks of a Great Man has two destinations. There isnât a third. If he dwells in a home, he will conquer this world —without rod, without sword, but with righteousness— he will rule. But if he goes forth from home into homelessness, with his roof opened up,2 he will be      Self-Awakened, a worthy one     unexcelled. Ask just in your heart about my caste & clan, mantras, other students, and about heads & the splitting of heads. If he is awakened, seeing without obstruction, he will answer     in speech the questions asked     in your heart." Having heard Bṅvarīâs words, sixteen brahman students— Ajita, Tissa-metteyya, Puṃṃaka & Mettagū, Dhotaka & Upasīva, Nanda & Hemaka, Todeyya & Kappa, the wise Jatukaṃṃin, Bhadrṅvudha & Udaya, Posṅla the brahman, Mogharṅja the intelligent, and Piṃgiya the great seer— all          with their own groups, famed in          all the world, endowed          with jhṅna, delighting          in jhṅna, enlightened, perfume          with perfumes3 from previous lives, having bowed down to Bṅvarī and performed circumambulation, left, setting out for the North, wearing coiled hair & deer-skins: first to the establishment of Muḍaka, then to Mṅhissatī, Ujjenī, Gonaddhṅ, Vedisṅ, Vanasa, to Kosambī & Sṅketa, to Sṅvatthī, the supreme city, to Setabya, Kapilavatthu, the city of Kusinṅrṅ, to Pṅva, Bhoganagara, to Vesṅlī, the city of the Magadhans, and then to the Pṅsṅṃaka shrine, refreshing & lovely. Like a thirsty man     for cool water, like a merchant     for a great profit, like one burning from heat for shade, quickly they climbed the mountain. And at that time, the Blessed One, surrounded by the Saṃgha of monks, was teaching the monks the Dhamma, like a lion roaring in the forest. Ajita saw the Self-Awakened One, like the sun with radiance in beams,4 like the moon come to fullness on the fifteenth day. Then, seeing the marks complete in his body, he stood to one side, overjoyed, and in his heart asked the questions: "Speak concerning his birth, speak of his clan & marks, speak of his perfection in the mantras, and how many brahmans does he teach?" The Buddha: "His age is one hundred & twenty, and by clan, he is a Bṅvarī. Three are the marks in his body, three the Vedas heâs mastered. In the marks & oral traditions, etymologies & rituals, he teaches five hundred. In his own doctrine he has reached perfection." Ajita: "Proclaim them in detail— Bṅvarīâs marks— O man supreme, cutter of craving, donât leave us in doubt." The Buddha: "He can hide his face with his tongue, he has a tuft of hair between his brows, his male organ is in a sheath: Know this, young brahman." Not hearing anything asked, but hearing the questions answered, all the people, excited, with hands palm-to-palm over their hearts, thought: "What deva or Brahmṅ, or Inda Sujampati5 asked those questions in his heart? To whom did he [the Buddha] reply?" Ajita: "Bṅvarī asked about heads and the splitting of heads. Explain that, Blessed One. Subdue our doubt, seer." The Buddha: "Know the head to be ignorance, and the splitting of the head, knowledge connected with conviction, mindfulness, concentration, desire, & persistence." Then, with great joy, the young brahman, putting himself in order, arranging his deer-skin over one shoulder, fell with his head at the Blessed Oneâs feet: "Master, One with Eyes, Bṅvarī the brahman, together with his students, dear sir— exultant in mind, happy at heart— venerate your feet." The Buddha: "May he be happy, Bṅvarī the brahman, together with his students. And may you, too, be happy, young brahman, and live a long time. All doubts— Bṅvarīâs and all of yours: Ask, now that Iâve given leave, whatever you wish in your heart." Given leave by the Self-Awakened One, having sat to one side, hands palm-to-palm over his heart, Ajita there addressed the first question to the Tathṅgata. vv. 976–1031 Notes 1. Reading ṅkiā±cṅā±ā±aṃ with the Thai text of Nd II and of SnA. The Thai text of the prologue here reads ṅciā±ā±aṃ, "practice, custom." According to SnA, "nothingness" here means freedom from care. However, it might also mean the meditative state of the dimension of nothingness, and the post-mortem deva realm corresponding to that attainment. This would fit in with the fact that, in the following dialogues, two of his students—Upasīva and Posṅla—appear to be familiar with this dimension in their meditation, and quiz the Buddha as to what to do after having attained it. 2. See Sn 2:13, note 3. 3. "Perfume" (vṅsanṅ) here means traces of good qualities. 4. Following GD in interpreting vīta- here as meaning "straight." 5. "Lord of the Well-born," an epithet for Sakka, king of the devas of the Thirty-three. - --> - - - -