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SN 1.1PTS (1st ed) SN 1.11 min read

Crossing the Flood

Oghataraṇasutta

The Buddha crossed the flood of suffering by neither standing nor swimming.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 1.1Linked Discourses 1.1
  • 0.21. Naḷavagga1. A Reed

0.3OghataraṇasuttaCrossing the Flood

1.1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.11.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.

1.3Atha kho aññatarā devatā abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇā kevalakappaṁ jetavanaṁ obhāsetvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi. Ekamantaṁ ṭhitā kho sā devatā bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:Then, late at night, a glorious deity, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side, and said to him,21.4“kathaṁ nu tvaṁ, mārisa, oghamatarī”ti?“Good fellow, how did you cross the flood?”3

1.5“Appatiṭṭhaṁ khvāhaṁ, āvuso, anāyūhaṁ oghamatarin”ti.“Neither standing nor swimming, respectable sir, I crossed the flood.”4

1.6“Yathākathaṁ pana tvaṁ, mārisa, appatiṭṭhaṁ anāyūhaṁ oghamatarī”ti?“But in what way did you cross the flood neither standing nor swimming?”5

1.7“Yadāsvāhaṁ, āvuso, santiṭṭhāmi tadāssu saṁsīdāmi;“When I stood, I sank under.1.8yadāsvāhaṁ, āvuso, āyūhāmi tadāssu nibbuyhāmi.When I swam, I was swept away.1.9Evaṁ khvāhaṁ, āvuso, appatiṭṭhaṁ anāyūhaṁ oghamatarin”ti.That’s how I crossed the flood neither standing nor swimming.”6

2.1“Cirassaṁ vata passāmi,“After a long time I see2.2brāhmaṇaṁ parinibbutaṁ;a brahmin fully quenched.2.3Appatiṭṭhaṁ anāyūhaṁ,Neither standing nor swimming,2.4tiṇṇaṁ loke visattikan”ti.he’s crossed over clinging to the world.”

3.1Idamavoca sā devatā.That is what that deity said,3.2Samanuñño satthā ahosi.and the Teacher concurred.3.3Atha kho sā devatā:3.4“samanuñño me satthā”ti bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā padakkhiṇaṁ katvā tatthevantaradhāyīti.Then that deity, knowing that the Teacher concurred, bowed and respectfully circled the Buddha, keeping him on his right, before vanishing right there.

Translator’s notes

  1. Bhikkhu Bodhi’s Connected Discourses of the Buddha includes extensive discussions of variant readings, as well as summaries of the commentary. I don’t replicate these here, but usually I follow Bodhi’s readings and note where I differ.

    ↩ sn1.1:1.1

  2. “Deity” is devatā, which in Pali as in English is an abstract noun. Though feminine in grammatical gender, it does not imply that the deity is female. Here, for example, the deity is addressed with the masculine form āvuso.

    ↩ sn1.1:1.3

  3. “Good fellow” (mārisa; Sanskrit mārṣa, māriṣa) is a special term of address used by deities and sometimes by kings. The term harks back to Sanskrit mādṛśa, “one like me”, in the sense of having a comparable status, i.e. “fellow”.

    The Buddha lived and taught in the Gangetic plain, a region characterized by deadly and unpredictable flooding.

    ↩ sn1.1:1.4

  4. That āyūhati means “swim” is clear from SN 2.5:3.5.

    ↩ sn1.1:1.5

  5. The deity’s counter-question shows that the Buddha’s answer was deliberately obscure.

    ↩ sn1.1:1.6

  6. The teaching suggests a state of poised flow, where one is neither stuck in attachments, nor restlessly straining to get somewhere else.

    ↩ sn1.1:1.9