The Sutta Nipata
The "Sutta Collection"
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Sutta Nipata V.1
Ajita-manava-puccha
Ajita's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Read an alternate translation by John D. Ireland
Ajita:
With what
is the world shrouded?
Because of what
doesn't it shine?
With what
is it smeared? Tell me.
What
is its great danger & fear?
The Buddha:
With ignorance
the world is shrouded.
Because of stinginess,
heedlessness,
it doesn't shine.
With longing
it's smeared -- I tell you.
Suffering-stress:
its great danger & fear.
Ajita:
They flow every which way,
the streams.
What is their blocking,
what their restraint -- tell me --
with what are they finally stopped?
The Buddha:
Whatever streams
there are in the world:
their blocking is
mindfulness, mindfulness
is their restraint -- I tell you --
with discernment
they're finally stopped.
Ajita:
Discernment & mindfulness,
name & form, dear sir:
Tell me, when asked this,
where are they brought to a halt?
The Buddha:
This question you've asked, Ajita,
I'll answer it for you --
where name & form
are brought to a halt
without trace:
With the cessation of consciousness
they're brought
to a halt.
Ajita:
Those here who have fathomed the Dhamma,
those who are learners,
those who are run-of-the-mill:
When you, dear sir, astute,
are asked this,
tell me their manner of life.
The Buddha:
He should not hanker
for sensual pleasures,
should be limpid in mind.
Skilled in all mental qualities,
he, the monk, should live his life
mindfully.
Note
According to the Culaniddesa (Nd.II), the streams that
"flow every which way" are the streams of craving, views, conceit,
defilement, corruption, and ignorance that flow out the six sense media. The
first two lines in Ven. Ajita's second set of questions (the first half-line in
the Pali) is identical to the first half-line in Dhp.
340.
For a more detailed answer to Ajita's last set of questions,
see SN XII.31.
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