Saṁyutta Nikāya
IV. Saḷāyatana Vagga
35: Saḷāyatana Saṁyutta
Paññāsa Catutthaṁ
3. Samudda Vagga
IV. Kindred Sayings on the 'Six-Fold Sphere' of Sense and Other Subjects
35: Kindred Sayings the Sixfold Sphere of Sense The 'Fourth Fifty' Suttas
3. The Chapter on the Ocean
Sutta 187
Samudda Suttaṁ
Ocean (i)1
[157] [97]
Thus have I heard:
Once the Exalted One addressed the brethren, saying:
"Brethren."
"Lord," responded those brethren to the Exalted One.
The Exalted One thus spoke:
"'The ocean! The ocean!' Brethren,
says the ignorant worldling.
But that, Brethren, is not the ocean
in the discipline of the Ariyan.
That ocean (of the worldling), Brethren,
is a heap of water,
a great flood of water.
The eye of a man, Brethren,
is the ocean.
Its impulse is made of objects.
Whoso endures that object-made impulse, -
of him, Brethren, it is said:
'He has crossed over.
That ocean of the eye,
with its waves and whirlpools,2
its sharks and demons,
the brahmin has crossed3
and gone beyond.
He stands on dry ground.'
■
The ear of a man, Brethren,
is the ocean.
Its impulse is made of sounds.
Whoso endures that sound-made impulse, -
of him, Brethren, it is said:
'He has crossed over.
That ocean of the ear,
with its waves and whirlpools,
its sharks and demons,
the brahmin has crossed
and gone beyond.
He stands on dry ground.'
■
The nose of a man, Brethren,
is the ocean.
Its impulse is made of scents.
Whoso endures that scent-made impulse, -
of him, Brethren, it is said:
'He has crossed over.
That ocean of the nose,
with its waves and whirlpools,
its sharks and demons,
the brahmin has crossed
and gone beyond.
He stands on dry ground.'
■
The tongue of a man, Brethren,
is the ocean.
Its impulse is made of savours.
Whoso endures that savour-made impulse, -
of him, Brethren, it is said:
'He has crossed over.
That ocean of the tongue,
with its waves and whirlpools,
its sharks and demons,
the brahmin has crossed
and gone beyond.
He stands on dry ground.'
■
The body of a man, Brethren,
is the ocean.
Its impulse is made of tangibles.
Whoso endures that tangibles-made impulse, -
of him, Brethren, it is said:
'He has crossed over.
That ocean of the body,
with its waves and whirlpools,
its sharks and demons,
the brahmin has crossed
and gone beyond.
He stands on dry ground.'
■
The mind of a man, Brethren,
is the ocean.
Its impulse [98] is made of mind-states.
Whoso endures that mind-state-made impulse, -
of him, Brethren, it is said:
'He has crossed over.
That ocean of the mind,
with its waves and whirlpools,
its sharks and demons,
the brahmin has crossed
and gone beyond.
He stands on dry ground.'
■
Thus spoke the Teacher: -
Whoso has crossed this monster-teeming sea,
With its devils and fearsome waves impassable,
'Versed in the lore,' 'living the holy life,'
'Gone to world's end,'4 and 'gone beyond' he's called.
1 Cf. Udāna v, 5, and Comy. 'Here the eye is likened to the ocean because it can never be filled, never satisfied, however much is poured in.' Comy. (duppūraṇ'atthena vā'samuddaṇ' atthena vā) Cf.SnA. 275. Cf. also Dhamma-sangaṇi (B. Psych. Eth.), §§ 597, etc.
2 At Itiv. 114, sa-rakkhasa, sa-gaha is explained as mātugāma. Sa-ummi is kodh'ūp, ūpāyāsa. Sāvaṭṭa is pañca-kāma-guṇā. Cf. A. ii, 123 (Numerical Sayings, Jayasundere, p. 156 ff.), and infra. § 200.
3 Atari. A. ii, 46 (aor. of tarati).
4 Lokantagū.