Translating Classical Buddhism to Modern English

The Medium Discourses

Chapter 8: Defilement

（九五） 中阿含 穢品 住法經 第九 (第二小土城誦) 95. Abiding in Qualities
我聞如是： 一時，佛遊舍衛國，在勝林、給孤獨園。 1. Thus I have heard:1 One time, the Buddha traveled to the country of Śrāvastī and stayed at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove.
爾時，世尊告諸比丘： 「我說退善法，不住、不增。 我說住善法，不退、不增。 我說增善法，不退、不住。 2. It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “I’ll discuss retreating from skillful qualities and not abiding in or increasing them. I’ll discuss abiding in skillful qualities and not retreating from or increasing them. I’ll also discuss increasing skillful qualities and not retreating from or abiding in them.2
「云何退善法，不住、不增？ 比丘者若有篤信、禁戒、博聞、布施、智慧、辯才、阿含、及其所得。 彼人於此法退，不住、不增。 是謂退善法，不住、不增。 3. “How does one retreat from skillful qualities and not abide in or increase them? Suppose a monk has faith, precepts, learning, generosity, wisdom, eloquence, scriptures, and his attainments.3 That man retreats from these qualities and doesn’t abide in or increase them. This is called retreating from skillful qualities and not abiding in or increasing them.
「云何住善法，不退、不增？ 比丘者若有篤信、禁戒、博聞、布施、智慧、辯才、阿含、及其所得。 彼人於此法住，不退、不增。 是謂住善法，不退、不增。 4. “How does one abide in skillful qualities and not retreat from or increase them? Suppose a monk has faith, precepts, learning, generosity, wisdom, eloquence, scriptures, and his attainments. That man abides in these qualities and doesn’t retreat from or increase them. This is called abiding in skillful qualities and not retreating from or increasing them.
「云何增善法，不退、不住？ 比丘者若有篤信、禁戒、博聞、布施、智慧、辯才、阿含、及其所得。 彼人於此法增，不退、不住。 是謂增善法，不退、不住。 5. “How does one increase skillful qualities and not retreat from or abide in them? Suppose a monk has faith, precepts, learning, generosity, wisdom, eloquence, scriptures, and his attainments. That man increases these qualities and doesn’t retreat from or abide in them. This is called increasing skillful qualities and not retreating from or abiding in them.
「比丘者作如是觀，必多所饒益： 『我為多行增伺，為多行無增伺？ 我為多行瞋恚心，為多行無瞋恚心？ 我為多行睡眠纏，為多行無睡眠纏？ 我為多行調貢高，為多行無調貢高？ 我為多行疑惑，為多行無疑惑？ 我為多行身諍，為多行無身諍？ 我為多行穢污心，為多行無穢污心？ 我為多行信，為多行不信？ 我為多行精進，為多行懈怠？ 我為多行念，為多行無念？ 我為多行定，為多行無定？ 我為多行惡慧，為多行無惡慧？』 6. “A monk who contemplates in this way will surely be greatly benefited by it: ‘Do I often practice with longing, or do I often practice without longing? Do I often practice with hateful thoughts, or do I often practice without hateful thoughts? Do I often practice wrapped in sleepiness, or do I often practice without being wrapped in sleepiness? Do I often practice with agitated arrogance, or do I often practice without agitated arrogance? Do I often practice with perplexity, or do I often practice without perplexity? Do I often practice with physical violence, or do I often practice without physical violence? Do I often practice with filthy thoughts, or do I often practice without filthy thoughts? Do I often practice with faith, or do I often practice unfaithfully? Do I often practice with diligence, or do I often practice with laziness? Do I often practice with mindfulness, or do I often practice without mindfulness? Do I often practice while settled, or do I often practice while unsettled? Do I often practice with poor wisdom, or do I often practice without poor wisdom?’4
「若比丘觀時，則知： 『我多行增伺⋯瞋恚心⋯睡眠纏⋯調貢高⋯疑惑⋯身諍⋯穢污心⋯不信⋯懈怠⋯無念⋯無定⋯多行惡慧者。』 彼比丘欲滅此惡不善法故，便以速求方便，學極精勤。 正念、正智，忍不令退。 猶人為火燒頭、燒衣，急求方便救頭、救衣。 如是，比丘欲滅此惡不善法故，便以速求方便，學極精勤。 正念、正智，忍不令退。 7. “Suppose that when he contemplates this, a monk knows, ‘I often practice with longing … hateful thoughts … wrapped in sleepiness … agitated arrogance … perplexity … physical violence … filthy thoughts … unfaithfully … laziness … without mindfulness … while unsettled … often practice with poor wisdom.’ Because he wants to cease these bad and unskillful things, that monk then quickly pursues the method to do that, training with the utmost effort. He endures and doesn’t let himself retreat using right mindfulness and knowledge. He’s like a man with his hair or clothes on fire who instantly seeks to put them out. Thus, because he wants to cease these bad and unskillful things, this monk quickly pursues the method to do that and trains with the utmost effort. He endures and doesn’t let himself retreat using right mindfulness and knowledge.
「若比丘觀時，則知： 『我多行無貪伺⋯無瞋恚心⋯無睡眠纏⋯無調貢高⋯無疑惑⋯無身諍⋯無穢污心⋯有信⋯有進⋯有念⋯有定⋯多行無惡慧者。』 彼比丘欲住此善法，不忘、不退修行廣布故，便以速求方便，學極精勤。 正念、正智，忍不令退。 猶人為火燒頭、燒衣，急求方便救頭、救衣。 如是，比丘欲住此善法，不忘、不退修行廣布故，便以速求方便，學極精勤。 正念、正智，忍不令退。」 8. “Suppose that when he contemplates this, a monk knows, ‘I often practice without longing … without hateful thoughts … without being wrapped in sleepiness … without agitated arrogance … without perplexity … without physical violence … without filthy thoughts … with faith … with diligence … with mindfulness … while settled … often practice without poor wisdom.’ Because he wants to abide in these skillful things and not forget or retreat from cultivating and disseminating them, that monk quickly seeks the method to do that, training with the utmost effort. He endures and doesn’t let himself retreat using right mindfulness and knowledge. He’s like a man with his hair or clothes on fire who instantly seeks to put them out. Thus, because he wants to abide in these skillful things and not forget or retreat from cultivating and disseminating them, this monk quickly seeks the method to do that, training with the utmost effort. He endures and doesn’t let himself retreat using right mindfulness and knowledge.”
佛說如是。 彼諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜，奉行。 9. This is what the Buddha said. Those monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.

Notes

  1. For the source text, cf. T26.1.577b2-c13. It’s parallel with AN 10.53. These two texts are quite similar to MĀ 96 and AN 10.55. [back]
  2. discuss. C. 說, P. vaṇṇayāmi. In AN 10.53, the Buddha says he doesn’t praise abiding or retreating, but only growth in skillful qualities, whereas here he simply announces three topics that he’ll discuss for the monks. The C. could well translate the same word as the P. because vaṇṇayāmi can mean “comment on, interpret, explain” or “praise, extol.” AN 10.53 indicates the latter reading by negating the verb for the undesireable topics. This looks like an example of a single word being interpreted differently by separate traditions or dialects and the context being shaped to accomodate the chosen reading.
    in skillful qualities. While the C. could be read as “good Dharma,” AN 10.53 reads kusalesu dhammesu, which is in the plural locative case. The list of character traits that will follows also confirms that this is the correct reading. [back]
  3. faith, precepts, learning, generosity, wisdom, and eloquence, scriptures, and his attainments. C. 篤信、禁戒、博聞、布施、智慧、辯才、阿含、及其所得, P. saddhā sīla suta cāga paññā paṭibhāna. This C. list is the same set of skillful qualities given in the definition of “knowing oneself” in MĀ 1. The list found in AN 10.53 is “faith, ethics, generosity, wisdom, and eloquence,” and AN 7.68 is the same except for the addition of “learning.” In general, the MĀ parallels have added two items: “scriptures” (āgama) and “attainments.” [back]
  4. C.f. the corresponding passage in AN 10.53: “abhijjhālu bahulaṁ viharāmi, byāpannacitto bahulaṁ viharāmi, thinamiddhapariyuṭṭhito bahulaṁ viharāmi, uddhato bahulaṁ viharāmi, vicikiccho bahulaṁ viharāmi, kodhano bahulaṁ viharāmi, saṅkiliṭṭhacitto bahulaṁ viharāmi, sāraddhakāyo bahulaṁ viharāmi, kusīto bahulaṁ viharāmi, asamāhito bahulaṁ viharāmī’ti, tena, bhikkhave, bhikkhunā tesaṁyeva pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ pahānāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṁ.”
    Generally speaking, the P. parallel has each item in adj. form, while the C. places each as the object of the main verb 為多行 (“have often practiced”). This and the negations using 無 indicate that the C. is translating nouns. Notes on my translation of each item are below:
    longing. C. 增伺, P. abhijjhālu, S. abhidhyālu. The C. trans. here is the same as it is for S. abhidhyā (“longing”).
    hateful thoughts. C. 瞋恚心, P. byāpannacitta, S. vyāpannacitta. In S., this word typically meant “malicious” or “evil-minded,” and the P. reading is the same. In MĀ, 瞋恚 usually translates S. doṣa (“hate, dislike”) in the context of the three roots of unskillfulness and S. vyāpāda in the context of the five hindrances, indicating that the two were considered equal synonyms. I’ve translated accordingly here.
    wrapped in sleepiness. C. 睡眠纏, P. thinamiddha pariyuṭṭhita, S. styānamiddha paryavasthita. 睡眠 means “sleepiness” and 纏 means “wrapped up, captured,” which is an attested reading of paryavasthita in Tibetan translation as well. The P. and S. words were also interpreted as meaning “possessed by,” as in “possessed by a demon” as a way of explaining a temporary change in mood or personality.
    agitated arrogance. C. 調貢高, P. uddhata, S. uddhata. There seems to have been some confusion in Indic languages between similarly pronounced words such as uddhata, uddhacca, and udhṛta. Many of these words were ambiguous, meaning “elevated, arrogant, or agitated” among other things. The reading of “agitation” appears to have derived from the fact that arrogant people are easily upset. Here, 調貢高 is strange because it seems to be a double translation of a word like uddhata: 調 (“agitation”) and 貢高 (“arrogance”). It’s possible that it was indeed a compound in the original, so I have translated it as it is. As an aside, 調 is an unintuitive term for “agitation, restlessness” in Buddhist Chinese, and there are often variant readings replacing it with the clearer alternative 掉. The basis for 調 as “restlessness” is unclear to me, unless the reading of “check, investigate” could represent the urge to check on distractions or chores, which anyone working at home will confirm is a form of restlessness.
    perplexity. C. 疑惑, P. vicikiccha, S. vicikitsā. The C. lit. means “doubt and confusion.”
    physical violence. C. 身諍, P. sāraddhakāya, S. ?. The C. appears to match P. sāraddhakāya, though “physical” is placed in front of “violent.” “Violent, angry” is indeed a reading for P. sāraddha, but I have not located a clearly attested S. equivalent. It may have been saṃrambha.
    filthy thoughts. C. 穢污心, P. saṅkiliṭṭhacitta, S. saṃkliṣṭacitta. I’ve translated 穢污 lit. as “filthy, dirty.”
    faith. C. 信, P. saddhā, S. śraddhā.
    diligence … laziness. C. 精進 … 懈怠, P. kusīta … āraddhaviriya, S. kusīda … vīryārambha. It’s unclear if the C. translates the same Indic words, but the P. presents them in the opposite order.
    settled. C. 定, P/S. samāhita. It’s unclear whether the C. translates samāhita or samādhi. The two words were apparently considered equivalent.
    poor wisdom. C. 惡慧, P. duppañña, S. duṣprajña. There are examples in other P. suttas (e.g. AN 4.230) that present the list assaddha, dussīla, kusīta, duppañña (“faithless, unethical, lazy, and witless”), which seems to be incorporated into this larger list in MĀ 95. Duppañña, however, doesn’t end the parallel list in AN 10.53. Here, the C. seems to be a lit. trans. of this figurative expression for being foolish or stupid. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 1 August 2024

Previous

Next