The Sutta Pitaka

Khuddaka Nikaya
---o0o---

The Sutta Nipata

The "Sutta Collection"

---o0o---

Sutta Nipata I.2

Dhaniya Sutta

Dhaniya the Cattleman

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

---

Dhaniya the cattleman:[1]

"The rice is cooked,
my milking done.
I live with my people
along the banks of the Mahi;
my hut is roofed, my fire lit:
    so if you want, rain-god,
    go ahead & rain."

 

The Buddha:

"Free from anger,
my stubbornness gone,[2]
I live for one night
along the banks of the Mahi;
my hut's roof is open, my fire out:[3]
    so if you want, rain-god,
    go ahead & rain."

Dhaniya:

"No mosquitoes or gadflies
are to be found.
The cows range in the marshy meadow
where the grasses flourish.
They could stand the rain if it came:
    so if you want, rain-god,
    go ahead & rain."

 

The Buddha:

"A raft, well-made,
has been lashed together.[4]
Having crossed over,
gone to the far shore,
I've subdued the flood.
No need for a raft
is to be found:[5]
    so if you want, rain-god,
    go ahead & rain."

Dhaniya:

"My wife is compliant, not careless,
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 compliant, 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:

"I'm in no one's 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 herd:[7]
    so if you want, rain-god,
    go ahead & rain."

Dhaniya:

"The stakes are dug-in, immovable.
The new muñja-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,
I never again
will lie in the womb:
    so if you want, rain-god,
    go ahead & rain."

 

The great cloud rained down
    straightaway,
filling the lowlands & high.
Hearing the rain-god pour down,
Dhaniya said:

 

"How great our gain
that we've gazed
on the Blessed One!
    We go to him,
the One with vision,
    for refuge.
May you be our teacher, Great Sage.
My wife & I are compliant.
Let's follow the holy life
under the One Well-gone.
Gone to the far shore
of aging & death,
let's put an end
to suffering & stress."

Mara:[8]

"Those with children
    delight
because of their children.
Those with cattle
    delight
because of their cows.
A person's delight
comes from acquisitions,
since a person with no acquisitions
    doesn't delight."

The Buddha:

"Those with children
    grieve
because of their children.
Those with cattle
    grieve
because of their cows.
A person's grief
comes from acquisitions,
since a person with no acquisitions
    doesn't grieve."

---

Notes

1. Dhaniya Gopa: Literally, one whose wealth is in cattle. According to the Commentary, his herd consisted of 30,000 head of cattle. [Go back]

2. The first line in the Buddha's verse plays on words in the first line of Dhaniya's. "Free from anger" (akkodhano) plays on "rice is cooked" (pakkodano); and "stubbornness" (khilo) plays on "milk" (khiro). [Go back]

3. "Open" means having a mind not covered or concealed by craving, defilement, or ignorance.  "My fire out" refers to the fires of passion, aversion, & delusion; birth, aging, & death; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. S. [Go back]

4. The raft stands for the noble eightfold path. See passages 113 and 114 in The Wings to Awakening. [Go back]

5. As this verse doesn't seem to be a direct response to the preceding one, the Commentary 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" (tinna) being a pun on Dhaniya's reference to grass (tina). [Go back]

6. According to the Commentary, the Buddha is not in anyone else's employ nor even in his own employ -- i.e., he is not in the employ of craving. [Go back]

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. . [Go back]

8. According to the Commentary, Mara suddenly comes on the scene to try -- unsuccessfully -- to prevent Dhaniya and his wife from going forth. His verses here, together with the Buddha's response, are also found at  [Go back]

---o0o---

Contents | Ch I | Ch II |Ch III | Ch IV| ChV

---o0o---

 

Khuddaka Nikaya contents:

Dhammapada | Therigatha | Udana

Theragatha| Sutta Nipata | Itivuttaka

---o0o---

Back to The Pali Pitaka

Top of page