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Saṁyutta Nikāya 42.2 Linked Discourses 42.2
1. Gāmaṇivagga 1. Chiefs
Tālapuṭasutta With Tālapuṭa
Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground.
Atha kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: Then Tālapuṭa the dancing chief came up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: His verses at Thag 19.1 speak eloquently of the tension between the worldly and the spiritual life. | The name tālapuṭa is explained by the commentary as due to his face being the color of a fresh palmyra fruit (tāla). This, however, leaves the element puṭa (“pouch”) unexplained. Tālapuṭa is known in Jain texts as a kind of poison (Uttarādhyayana Sūtra 16, verse 13; Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣa Caritra 1.2). Tāla can mean “yellow orpiment”, a kind of arsenic used for coloring (Thig 14.1:28.1), so tālapuṭa would mean “pouch of arsenic”. As to why someone would have such a name, the protagonist of Isibhāsiyāiṁ 10.13—a government minister (amacca) named Tetaliputta—recounts having survived tālapuṭa poisoning. His life was, it seems, a series of tragedies leading him to an elaborate series of failed suicide attempts. While his story is unlike Tālapuṭa’s, the rhetoric is curiously similar: both rely on repeated, plaintive rhetorical questions to express emotional torment; for Tālapuṭa it is “when will it be?”, for Tetaliputta “who will believe me?” I wonder whether these stories share some connection. Perhaps the similar-sounding names have become confused, or perhaps he became known for the poison he survived.
“sutaṁ metaṁ, bhante, pubbakānaṁ ācariyapācariyānaṁ naṭānaṁ bhāsamānānaṁ: “Sir, I have heard that the dancers of the past who were tutors of tutors said:
‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti, so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’ti. ‘Suppose a dancer entertains and amuses people on a stage or at a festival with mixed truth and lies. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of laughing gods.’
Idha bhagavā kimāhā”ti? What does the Buddha say about this?”
“Alaṁ, gāmaṇi, tiṭṭhatetaṁ. Mā maṁ etaṁ pucchī”ti. “Enough, chief, let it be. Don’t ask me that.”
Dutiyampi kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: For a second time …
“sutaṁ metaṁ, bhante, pubbakānaṁ ācariyapācariyānaṁ naṭānaṁ bhāsamānānaṁ:
‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti, so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’ti.
Idha bhagavā kimāhā”ti?
“Alaṁ, gāmaṇi, tiṭṭhatetaṁ. Mā maṁ etaṁ pucchī”ti.
Tatiyampi kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: And for a third time Tālapuṭa said to the Buddha:
“sutaṁ metaṁ, bhante, pubbakānaṁ ācariyapācariyānaṁ naṭānaṁ bhāsamānānaṁ: “Sir, I have heard that the dancers of the past who were tutors of tutors said:
‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti, so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’ti. ‘Suppose a dancer entertains and amuses people on a stage or at a festival with mixed truth and lies. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of laughing gods.’
Idha bhagavā kimāhā”ti? What does the Buddha say about this?”
“Addhā kho tyāhaṁ, gāmaṇi, na labhāmi: “Clearly, chief, I’m not getting through to you when I say:
‘alaṁ, gāmaṇi, tiṭṭhatetaṁ, ‘Enough, chief, let it be.
mā maṁ etaṁ pucchī’ti. Don’t ask me that.’
Api ca tyāhaṁ byākarissāmi. Nevertheless, I will answer you.
Pubbe kho, gāmaṇi, sattā avītarāgā rāgabandhanabaddhā. When sentient beings are still not free of greed, and are still bound by greed,
Tesaṁ naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe ye dhammā rajanīyā te upasaṁharati bhiyyoso mattāya. a dancer in a stage or festival presents them with even more arousing things.
Pubbe kho, gāmaṇi, sattā avītadosā dosabandhanabaddhā. When sentient beings are still not free of hate, and are still bound by hate,
Tesaṁ naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe ye dhammā dosanīyā te upasaṁharati bhiyyoso mattāya. a dancer in a stage or festival presents them with even more hateful things.
Pubbe kho, gāmaṇi, sattā avītamohā mohabandhanabaddhā. When sentient beings are still not free of delusion, and are still bound by delusion,
Tesaṁ naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe ye dhammā mohanīyā te upasaṁharati bhiyyoso mattāya. a dancer in a stage or festival presents them with even more delusory things.
So attanā matto pamatto pare madetvā pamādetvā kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāso nāma nirayo tattha upapajjati. And so, being heedless and negligent themselves, they’ve encouraged others to be heedless and negligent. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the hell called ‘Laughter’.
Sace kho panassa evaṁdiṭṭhi hoti: But if you have such a view:
‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti, so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’ti, sāssa hoti micchādiṭṭhi. ‘Suppose a dancer entertains and amuses people on a stage or at a festival with mixed truth and lies. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of laughing gods.’ This is your wrong view.
Micchādiṭṭhikassa kho panāhaṁ, gāmaṇi, purisapuggalassa dvinnaṁ gatīnaṁ aññataraṁ gatiṁ vadāmi—An individual with wrong view is reborn in one of two places, I say: Also at MN 57:3.4, DN 12:10.15.
nirayaṁ vā tiracchānayoniṁ vā”ti. hell or the animal realm.”
Evaṁ vutte, tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi parodi assūni pavattesi. When he said this, Tālapuṭa cried and burst out in tears.
“Etaṁ kho tyāhaṁ, gāmaṇi, nālatthaṁ: “This is what I didn’t get through to you when I said:
‘alaṁ, gāmaṇi, tiṭṭhatetaṁ; mā maṁ etaṁ pucchī’”ti. ‘Enough, chief, let it be. Don’t ask me that.’”
“Nāhaṁ, bhante, etaṁ rodāmi yaṁ maṁ bhagavā evamāha; “Sir, I’m not crying because of what the Buddha said.
api cāhaṁ, bhante, pubbakehi ācariyapācariyehi naṭehi dīgharattaṁ nikato vañcito paluddho: But sir, for a long time I’ve been cheated, tricked, and deceived by the dancers of the past who were tutors of tutors, who said:
‘yo so naṭo raṅgamajjhe samajjamajjhe saccālikena janaṁ hāseti rameti so kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā pahāsānaṁ devānaṁ sahabyataṁ upapajjatī’”ti. ‘Suppose a dancer entertains and amuses people on a stage or at a festival with mixed truth and lies. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of laughing gods.’
“Abhikkantaṁ, bhante, abhikkantaṁ, bhante. Excellent, sir! Excellent!
Seyyathāpi, bhante, nikkujjitaṁ vā ukkujjeyya, paṭicchannaṁ vā vivareyya, mūḷhassa vā maggaṁ ācikkheyya, andhakāre vā telapajjotaṁ dhāreyya: ‘cakkhumanto rūpāni dakkhantī’ti; evamevaṁ bhagavatā anekapariyāyena dhammo pakāsito. As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, the Buddha has made the teaching clear in many ways.
Esāhaṁ, bhante, bhagavantaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi dhammañca bhikkhusaṅghañca. I go for refuge to the Buddha, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha.
Labheyyāhaṁ, bhante, bhagavato santike pabbajjaṁ, labheyyaṁ upasampadan”ti. Sir, may I receive the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha’s presence?”
Alattha kho tālapuṭo naṭagāmaṇi bhagavato santike pabbajjaṁ, alattha upasampadaṁ. And Tālapuṭa the dancing chief received the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha’s presence.
Acirūpasampanno ca panāyasmā tālapuṭo …pe… Not long after his ordination, Venerable Tālapuṭa
arahataṁ ahosīti. became one of the perfected.
Dutiyaṁ.