Other Translations: Deutsch
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Sutta Nipāta 4.2 Sutta Nipāta 4.2Anthology of Discourses 4.2
Guhaṭṭhakasutta The Cave OctetEight on the Cave
Satto guhāyaṁ bahunābhichanno, Staying attached to the cave, covered heavily over,Nd I: “Cave” = the body. “Covered heavily over” = having defilements and unskillful mental qualities.Trapped in a cave, thickly overspread,
Tiṭṭhaṁ naro mohanasmiṁ pagāḷho; a person sunk in confusionsunk in delusion they stay.
Dūre vivekā hi tathāvidho so, is far from seclusion—That sort is far from seclusion,
Kāmā hi loke na hi suppahāyā. for sensual pleasures, sensual desires, in the world, are not lightly let go.“Sensual desires/sensual pleasures”: two possible meanings of kāma. According to Nd I, both meanings are intended here.for sensual pleasures in the world are not easy to give up.
Icchānidānā bhavasātabaddhā, Those chained by desire, bound by becoming’s allure,The chains of desire, the bonds of life’s pleasures
Te duppamuñcā na hi aññamokkhā; aren’t easily released for there’s no liberation by others.are hard to escape, for one cannot free another. Te duppamuñca has been taken by most translators as referring to people, in senses either active (Bodhi’s “let go with difficulty”) or passive (Norman’s “are hard to release”). However the phrase occurs in a very similar context at SN 3.10:5.2 and Dhp 346:2, where it refers to the chains that are hard to escape.
Pacchā pure vāpi apekkhamānā, Intent, in front or behind,Nd I: “In front” means experienced in the past (as does “before” two lines down); “behind” means to-be-experienced in the future.Looking to the past or the future,
Ime va kāme purime va jappaṁ. on hunger for sensual pleasures here or before—they pray for these pleasures or former ones. Jappa means both to “incant” and to “long for”, and the English “pray’ has exactly the same connotations—for exactly the same reasons. They originated in begging favors of a god.
Kāmesu giddhā pasutā pamūḷhā, greedy for sensual pleasures, busy, deluded,Greedy, fixated, infatuated by sensual pleasures,
Avadāniyā te visame niviṭṭhā; ungenerous, entrenched in the discordant way,Nd I: “The discordant (visama) way” means the ten types of unskillful action (see MN 41, MN 97, and AN 10:176). See also Sn 1:12, note 11.they are incorrigible, habitually immoral.
Dukkhūpanītā paridevayanti, they—impelled into pain—lament:When led to suffering they lament,
Kiṁsū bhavissāma ito cutāse. “What will we be when we pass on from here?”“What will become of us when we pass away from here?”
Tasmā hi sikkhetha idheva jantu, So a person should train right here-&-now.That’s why a personage should train in this life:
Yaṁ kiñci jaññā visamanti loke; Whatever you know as discordant in the world,should you know that anything in the world is wrong,
Na tassa hetū visamaṁ careyya, don’t, for its sake, act discordantly,don’t act wrongly on account of that;
Appañhidaṁ jīvitamāhu dhīrā. for that life, the enlightened say, is short.for the attentive say this life is short.
Passāmi loke pariphandamānaṁ, I see them, in the world, floundering around,I see the world’s population floundering,
Pajaṁ imaṁ taṇhagataṁ bhavesu; people immersed in craving for states of becoming.given to craving for future lives.
Hīnā narā maccumukhe lapanti, Base people moan in the mouth of death,Base men wail in the jaws of death, “Jaws of death” (maccumukha) is also at SN 2.22:7.3. Compare Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.1.1, “he escapes from the jaws of death” (tanmṛtyumukhātpramucyate).
Avītataṇhāse bhavābhavesu. their craving, for states of becoming & not-, unallayed.States of not-becoming are oblivious states of becoming that people can get themselves into through a desire for annihilation, either after death or as a goal of their religious striving (see Iti 49 and MN 49). As with all states of becoming, these states are impermanent and stressful.not rid of craving for life after life.
Mamāyite passatha phandamāne, See them, floundering in their sense of mine,See them flounder over belongings,
Maccheva appodake khīṇasote; like fish in the puddles of a dried-up stream—like fish in puddles of a dried-up stream.
Etampi disvā amamo careyya, and, seeing this, live with no mine,Seeing this, live unselfishly,
Bhavesu āsattimakubbamāno. not forming attachment for states of becoming.forming no attachment to future lives.
Ubhosu antesu vineyya chandaṁ, Subdue desire for both sides,According to Nd I, “both sides” here has several possible meanings: sensory contact and the origination of sensory contact; past and future; name and form; internal and external sense media; self-identity and the origination of self-identity. It also might mean states of becoming and not-becoming, mentioned in the previous verse and below, in Sn 4:5.Rid of desire for both ends, The reference here is to the two ends of contact (AN 6.61) rather than the two extremes of views or paths.
Phassaṁ pariññāya anānugiddho; comprehending sensory contact, with no greed.Nd I: Comprehending sensory contact has three aspects: being able to identity and distinguish types of sensory contact; contemplating the true nature of sensory contact (e.g., inconstant, stressful, and not-self); and abandoning attachment to sensory contact. The same three aspects would apply to comprehending perception, as mentioned in the following verse.having completely understood contact, free of greed,
Yadattagarahī tadakubbamāno, Doing nothing for which he himself would rebuke himself,doing nothing for which they’d blame themselves,
Na lippatī diṭṭhasutesu dhīro. the enlightened person doesn’t adhere to what’s seen, to what’s heard.the attentive don’t cling to the seen and the heard.
Saññaṁ pariññā vitareyya oghaṁ, Comprehending perception, he’d cross over the flood—Having completely understood perception and having crossed the flood, Bodhi, Norman, and Ñāṇadīpa, apparently following the commentary, take vitareyya as an optative. But the previous verse spoke of an arahant, and here the one who has fully understood perception must have already crossed over. Vitareyya oghaṁ occurs at Snp 3.5:13.2, where vitareyya is clearly an absolutive, and is rendered as such by both Bodhi and Norman.
Pariggahesu muni nopalitto; the sage not stuck on possessions.the sage, not clinging to possessions,
Abbūḷhasallo caramappamatto, Then, with arrow removed, living heedfully,with dart plucked out, living diligently,
Nāsīsatī lokamimaṁ parañcāti. he longs for neither—this world, the next.does not hope for this world or the next.
Guhaṭṭhakasuttaṁ dutiyaṁ. The Cave Octet, the second.vv. 772–779. See also: SN 35:189; Thag 16:4; Sn 4:15.