Saṁyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
9. Vana-Saṁyutta
I. Kindred Sayings with Verses
9. The Forest Suttas
Sutta 2
Upaṭṭhāna Suttaṁ
Ministry1
[251]
THUS HAVE I HEARD: —
A certain brother was once staying among the Kosalese
in a certain forest tract.
And during that time,
while he took siesta,
he would fall asleep.
Then a deva who haunted that forest tract,
moved with compassion for that brother,
desiring his welfare,
and wishing to agitate him,
drew near and addressed him in the verses: —
"Arise, good almsman, wherefore seek repose?
What benefit dost thou in slumber find?
Good for the sick is sleep, and for one pierced
With wounds, for one that suffereth from shock.2
The faith and trust that made thee leave the world
And give up home to live the homeless life —
That faith shouldst thou develop and expand.
But come not thou under the sway of sleep."
[The Brother: —]3
"Transient and fleeting are desires of sense
For which slow wits infatuated long.
[252] Whoso is freed and leaneth not on bonds,
The world well lost4 — why should you plague the man?
Whose insight is well cleansed and purified
By the suppression of desire and lust,
By the transcending of all ignorance,
The world well lost — why should you plague the man?
Where saving lore hath broken nescience,
And poisons of the mind are wholly purged,
A man who knows not sorrow or despair,
The world well lost — why should you plague the man?
He that hath summoned effort, put forth strength,
And ever maketh vigorous advance,5
Aspiring to Nibbāna's [blessed peace],
The world well lost — why should you plague the man?"
1 Upaṭṭhānaṁ. The usual reference to the title does not occur in the Sutta. 'Ministry' probably refers to the fairy's well-meaning officiousness. The legend is that the bhikkhu who slept was an arahant, but that he had very far to go to procure himself any food and returned tired out.
2 Ruppato. On this term cf. B.'s analysis given in my Buddhist Psychology, 1914, p. 43: 'disturbed, struck, hurt, broken,' namely by physical causes.
3 B. confesses himself uncertain as to whether these lines belong to the brother, or the deva. 'It is not apparent in the commentary' (ayan pan'ettha anuttāna-pādavaṇṇanā). But if to the deva, the refrain implies 'why should he not plague himself, for he will [have to] do so?' namely, if he yield to somnolent habits.
4 Free rendering of pabbajita — the religieux, recluse, who has 'gone forth' from 'the world.'
5 See above, VII, 1, § 7.