The Numerical Discourses

Chapter 13: Profit

5. Sundarī

1. Thus I have heard:[1] One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī. At the time, he was teaching Dharma to an assembly numbering in the hundreds of thousands that surrounded him front and back.

2. At the time, a priest on the bank of a river went to the Bhagavān while carrying a heavy load. When he arrived, he set his load down to one side and stood silently in front of the Bhagavān. That priest then had this thought, “Today, the ascetic Gautama is teaching Dharma to an assembly numbering in the hundreds of thousands that surrounds him front and back. Now, I’m equally as clean as that ascetic Gautama, without any difference. Why is that? The ascetic Gautama eats excellent rice and a variety of delicacies. I’m eating fruits and vegetables to sustain myself.”

3. Knowing the thought that was in that priest’s mind, the Bhagavān then addressed the monks, “The minds of some sentient beings are defiled by twenty-one bonds.[2] One should observe those people as sure to fall into bad destinies and not be born in a good place. What are the twenty-one bonds? Anger is a mental bond, hatefulness is a mental bond, sleepiness is a mental bond, restlessness is a mental bond, doubt is a mental bond, wrath is a mental bond, jealousy is a mental bond, frustration is a mental bond, envy is a mental bond, dislike is a mental bond, shamelessness is a mental bond, lack of conscience is a mental bond, deception is a mental bond, fraud is a mental bond, dishonesty is a mental bond, enmity is a mental bond, haughtiness is a mental bond, pride is a mental bond, spitefulness is a mental bond, arrogance is a mental bond, and greed is a mental bond.

4. “Monks, if someone’s mind is defiled by these twenty-one bonds, one should observe those people as sure to fall into bad destinies and not be be born in a good place. They’re like a new garment made of white cloth. As it gets older, it picks up many dirty stains. When someone decides to dye it a certain color, whether blue, yellow, red, or black, it can never be accomplished. Why is that? Because it’s been soiled.

5. “Thus, monks, if someone’s mind is defiled by these twenty-one bonds, one should observe that person as sure to fall into bad destinies and not be born in a good place. Supposing, again, that someone’s mind isn’t defiled by any of these twenty-one bonds, one should know that this person is sure to be born up in Heaven and not fall to Hell. They’re like a fresh and clean white cloth that’ll accept any color one decides to give it, whether it be blue, yellow, red, or black. It’s sure to become that color, and it’ll never fade. Why is that? Because it’s clean. Likewise, when someone’s mind isn’t defiled by any of these twenty-one bonds, one should know that this person is sure to be born up in Heaven and not fall to Hell.

6. “Suppose that noble disciple produces the mental bond of anger. Once they observe it, they can stop it … produces the mental bond of hatefulness … produces the mental bond of sleepiness … produces the mental bond of restlessness … produces the mental bond of doubt … produces the mental bond of wrath … produces the mental bond of jealousy … produces the mental bond of frustration … produces the mental bond of envy … produces the mental bond of dislike … produces the mental bond of shamelessnes … produces the mental bond of lacking conscience … produces the mental bond of deception … produces the mental bond of fraud … produces the mental bond of dishonesty … produces the mental bond of enmity … produces the mental bond of haughtiness … produces the mental bond of pride … produces the mental bond of spitefulness … produces the mental bond of arrogance … produces the mental the bond of greed …

7. “If that noble disciple has no anger, no hate, and no delusions, his mind will become peaceful and cheerful. He completely fills one direction with kindness, and he delights himself. He does the same in two, three, and four directions, the four counterpoints, above, and below. He does likewise in all these directions of the whole world, which is limitless, measureless, and inestimable. His mind has no anger or hate, and he delights himself. Once he completely fills them with kindness and becomes joyous, his mind is proper.

8. “Again, he completely fills one direction with compassion, and he delights himself. He does the same in two, three, and four directions, the four counterpoints, above, and below. He does likewise in all these directions of the whole world, which is limitless, measureless, and inestimable. His mind has no anger or hate, and he delights himself. Once he completely fills them with compassion and becomes joyous, his mind is proper.

9. “Again, he completely fills one direction with joy, and he delights himself. He does the same in two, three, and four directions, the four counterpoints, above, and below. He does likewise in all these directions of the whole world, which is limitless, measureless, and inestimable. His mind has no anger or hate, and he delights himself. Once he completely fills them with equanimity and becomes joyous, his mind is proper.

10. “Again, he completely fills one direction with equanimity, and he delights himself. He does the same in two, three, and four directions, the four counterpoints, above, and below. He does likewise in all these directions of the whole world, which is limitless, measureless, and inestimable. His mind has no anger or hate, and he delights himself. Once he completely fills them with joy and becomes joyous, his mind is proper.

11. “He then achieves the faculty of faith in the Tathāgata. Having planted a sturdy and tall banner, he’s unmoved by gods, nāgas, spirits, asuras, ascetics, priests, or worldly people. Having attained that joy, his mind is proper.

12. “‘This is the Tathāgata, Arhat, Completely Awakened One, Complete in Wisdom and Conduct, the Well Gone One, Understander of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, Trainer in the Path and Dharma, and Teacher of Gods and Humans, who is called a Buddha, a Bhagavān.’ Having attained that joy, his mind is proper.

13. “He accomplishes this regarding the Dharma: ‘The Tathāgata’s Dharma is quite pure, unchanging, and loved and respected by people.’ The wise should observe it in this way. Having attained that joy, [his mind is proper.]

14. “He also accomplishes this regarding the Saṅgha: ‘The Tathāgata’s Saṅgha is quite pure. In disposition and conduct, they are in harmony. They accomplish one thing and the next, accomplish the precepts, accomplish samādhi, accomplish wisdom, accomplish liberation, and accomplish seeing and knowing liberation. The Noble Saṅgha has four pairs and eight ranks. This is the Tathāgata’s noble Saṅgha that’s cherished, worthy of trust, and worthy of service.’ Attaining that joy, his mind is proper.

15. “He, again, purifies his mind with this samādhi, and it has no pollution. The bonds are made to end, and he has no stains. His disposition and conduct are gentle, and he obtains spiritual knowledge. He then attains awareness of his own measureless past lives. From his present standpoint, there are no past lives he doesn’t know. ‘Whether it’s one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, eons of formation and destruction, eons not of formation and destruction, eons both of formation and destruction and not of formation and destruction, countless eons of formation and destruction, or countless eons not of formation and destruction, I was there with such-and-such a name from such-and-such a family. Such was my birth, such my food, I experienced such pleasures and pains, and my life was long or short. I died there and was born elsewhere. I died there and was born here.’ In this way, he’s aware of the events of his own countless past lives.

16. “Again, he purifies his mind with this samādhi, and it has no pollution. He knows the things that sentient beings think about. He also observes the classes of sentient beings with the heavenly eye. Some are being born, and some are dying. They have good and ugly forms and good and bad destinations. Whether they’re beautiful or disgusting depends upon to their conduct. He perceives all the rewards that they make for themselves.

17. “Sometimes, there are sentient beings who behave badly with their bodies, badly with their speech, and badly with their thoughts. They slander noble people, have wrong views, and behave according to wrong views. When their bodies break up and their lives end, they’re born in the three bad destinies, headed for Hell. Sometimes, other sentient beings behave well with their bodies, well with their speech, and well with their thoughts. They don’t slander noble people, have right views, and have no wrong views. When their bodies break up and their lives end, they are born up in Heaven, in a good place. This is called observing the classes of sentient beings with the clear heavenly eye. Some are being born, and some are dying. They have good and ugly forms and good and bad destinations. Whether they’re beautiful or disgusting depends upon to their conduct. He perceives all the rewards that they make for themselves.

18. “Again, he purifies his mind with this samādhi, and it has no pollution or bonds. His mind becomes gentle in nature, and he obtains spiritual knowledge. He also understands that his contamination has ended, and he delights himself. He observes, ‘This is suffering,’ and he truly knows it. Again, he observes ‘This is the formation of suffering’ … Again, he observes, ‘This is the end of suffering,’ … Again, he observes, ‘This is the escape from suffering,’ and he truly knows it. Once he makes these observations, his mind attains its freedom from the contaminants of desire … from the contaminants of existence … and attains freedom from the contaminants of ignorance. Once he’s liberated, he obtains the knowledge that he’s been liberated: ‘Birth and death have been ended, the religious life has been established, and the task has been accomplished. I truly know that I’ll no longer be subject to existence.’

19. “In this way, monks, the noble disciple’s mind becomes liberated. Although he eats rice and delicious dishes, even as much as Sumeru, he never commits any sin. Why is that? It’s because he has no desire and has ended craving, because he has no anger and has ended hate, and because he has no delusion and has ended igornance. This is called a monk among monks who has been completely cleansed on the inside.”

20. That priest by the river then said to the Bhagavān, “Ascetic Gautama, might you go to the Sundara River and bathe on its shore?”

21. The Bhagavān told him, “For what, priest, is the Sundara River named?”

22. The priest said, “The Sundara River is both a blessed depth and a light of the world. When people bathe in that river, all their evils are completely removed by it.”

23. The Bhagavān then spoke these verses:

• “This body for countless eons
  Has been washed in that river,
  As well as in smaller ponds and lakes,
  But it was never thoroughgoing.

• A fool often enjoys that,
  While walking in darkness and impurity.
  Once past misdeeds fill his insides,
  That river cannot be of any help.

• Pure people are always happy
  And their pure discipline pleases them.
  Clean people act cleanly,
  Their hoped for rewards surely come.

• If they don’t take what’s not given,
  Have mercy and don’t kill beings,
  Keep themselves honest and don’t speak falsely,
  Their hearts don’t increase or decrease.

• Now, when you bathe in this way,
  You’ll surely find a place of safety.
  But where does that river lead?
  It’s like a blind man thrown into darkness!”

24. The priest then said to the Bhagavān, “Stop, Gautama, stop! The ascetic Gautama is like a hunchback who’s straightened out, someone in darkness who sees light, someone confused shown the way, or someone blind who’s given eyes. Countless are the ways he teaches this sublime Dharma. I’d like to listen to that path.”

25. That priest on the river shore then was allowed to practice the path, accepted the full precepts, and thereby became a clansmen. He left home to train on the path and cultivated the unsurpassed religious life. He ended birth and death, established the religious life, and accomplished the task. He truly knew that he was no longer subject to existence. At that point, Venerable Sundarastrī became an arhat.[3]

26. When Venerable Sundarastrī heard what the Buddha taught, he rejoiced and approved.

Notes

1. This sūtra is similar to MN 7 and a closer parallel to MĀ 93 and Taisho 51. SĀ 21.36 (T99.1185) and T100.100 refer to the priest who appears in them but otherwise aren’t parallels to the other three sūtras. [back]
2. twenty-one bonds. This list occurs in different orders and with different translations in the three C. versions, and the terms used are often close synonyms. This makes precise translation difficult in a number of cases. It should be understood that this translation of the list is provisional, and it’s difficult to refine it further without detailed glosses to differentiate synonyms.
   It’s of interest to note how the list that appears here, in MĀ 93, and in Taisho 51 has twenty-one items, but MN 7’s list is not numbered and only consists of sixteen items. Also, MĀ 93’s list is of twenty-one defilements rather than bonds, which agrees with MN 7 but not the present sūtra or Taisho 51. These three versions (MN 7, MĀ 93, and EĀ 13.5/T51) appear to be disparate variations of some older text.
   This list of twenty-one bonds is also found in two other C. texts known to have been produced by the same translation team that produced EĀ. The first is a translation of an Abhidharma Vibhāṣa (T1547.28.424b6). It appears to reference a scriptural source similar to this sūtra or Taisho 51, though the quotation isn’t sufficient to identify it precisely. The second is a King Aśoka Avadāna text that contains a reference to the twenty-one bonds (T2045.50.172b29).
   The same translation team headed by Daoan was also said to have translated a version of MĀ that was later lost. T51 is one of a group of independent C. translations that parallel MĀ and EĀ sūtras and that may actually be remnants of this lost MĀ.
   Thus, this particular list of twenty-one bonds might be an indication that these texts all belonged to a single branch of early Buddhism. [back]
3. Sundarastrī. C. 孫陀羅諦利 (EMC. suən-da-la-tei-lɪi = G. suṃdarastri = S. sundarastrī). This translit. seems straightforward as S. sundara + strī, lit. meaning “beautiful woman.” The 翻梵語 (T2130.54.1019c24) confirms this reading (“譯曰：陀羅者好，諦利者女”). In other sources, however, he is named after the Sundarikā River, which is a feminine noun in S. This makes me wonder what took place to arrive at this situation. Was the priest a woman in this particular telling of the story, or was this name the result of an overly literal translation of S. sundarīka when the text passed from one Prakrit to another?
   In MN 7, the priest is called instead P. sundarikabhāradvāja, and simply P. bhāradvāja after he becomes a monk. MĀ 93 has still another name for the priest, translated to C. as 妙好首 (“Chief in Beauty” or “Beautiful Head”). 妙好 could certainly translate S. sundara. 首 could be a translation of S. śīrṣa, śiras, or śrī, which are similar in pronunciation to S. strī. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 24 July 2023