Thag 15:2 Udṅyin

- 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 - Thag - Thag 15:2 Udṅyin ## Browse Suttas Go to Theragṅthṅ index Thag index ## Thag 15:2  Udṅyin In AN 6:43, Ven. Udṅyin recites these verses spontaneously in the Buddhaâs presence after the kingâs elephant (nṅga) has passed by, and the Buddha defines the foremost nṅga in these terms: "But, Udṅyin, whoever in this world—with its devas, Mṅras, & Brahmṅs, its people with their contemplatives & brahmans, their royalty & commonfolk—does no misdeed in body, speech, or mind: Thatâs whom I call a nṅga." The Buddhaâs definition hints at a play on words: "Does no misdeed," in Pali, is ṅguṃ na karoti, which could be rephrased as na ṅguṃ karoti, yielding a play on the word nṅga. In these verses, Ven. Udṅyin shows that he has picked up on the hint by rephrasing it in precisely that way. 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,1 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,2 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 nṅga, 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;3 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, 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 exist4 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, without effluent, totally unbind. Notes 1. On the point that arahants have gone beyond all dhammas, see AN 3:137, note 1. 2. Clearing = nibbṅna, which is here presented as a play on the word, vana, or forest. 3. In Pali, an elephantâs trunk is called its "hand" (hattha). In fact, one of the words for "elephant" is hatthin, "one having a hand." 4. Aṃgṅresu ca santesu. 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 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 6:43; AN 9:7; AN 9:62; AN 10:81; Iti 44 - --> - - - -