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SN 1.23PTS (1st ed) SN 1.131 min read

A Tangle

Jaṭāsutta

This generation is all tangled up like a nest of matted hair. But who can unravel the tangle?

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 1.23Linked Discourses 1.23
  • 0.23. Sattivagga3. A Sword

0.3JaṭāsuttaA Tangle

1.1“Antojaṭā bahijaṭā,“Tangled within, tangled without:11.2Jaṭāya jaṭitā pajā;these people are tangled in tangles.1.3Taṁ taṁ gotama pucchāmi,I ask you this, Gotama:1.4Ko imaṁ vijaṭaye jaṭan”ti.who can untangle this tangle?”

2.1“Sīle patiṭṭhāya naro sapañño,“A wise person grounded in ethics,22.2Cittaṁ paññañca bhāvayaṁ;developing the mind and wisdom,32.3Ātāpī nipako bhikkhu,a keen and alert mendicant—2.4So imaṁ vijaṭaye jaṭaṁ.they can untangle this tangle.

3.1Yesaṁ rāgo ca doso ca,Those in whom greed, hate, and ignorance43.2avijjā ca virājitā;have faded away;3.3Khīṇāsavā arahanto,the perfected ones with defilements ended—3.4tesaṁ vijaṭitā jaṭā.they have untangled the tangle.

4.1Yattha nāmañca rūpañca,And where name and form4.2asesaṁ uparujjhati;cease with no residue left behind;4.3Paṭighaṁ rūpasaññā ca,and impingement and perception of form:4.4etthesā chijjate jaṭā”ti.it’s here this tangle is cut.”

Translator’s notes

  1. The “tangle” (jaṭā) is the tangled hair or dreadlocks of the Brahmanical jaṭila ascetics, as is made clear in SN 7.6 where a dreadlocked brahmin opens with the same verse. The claim is that jaṭila ascetics are as tangled in their minds by craving as they are in their hair.

    ↩ sn1.23:1.1

  2. In a bold literary conceit, the vast compendium of the Visuddhimagga positions itself as an explanation of this single verse.

    ↩ sn1.23:2.1

  3. Here citta (“mind”) stands for samādhi or jhāna, which is normally the case in the Suttas on the path (eg. cittasampadā = samādhisampadā, cittabhāvanā = samādhibhāvanā, adhicitta = samādhi, etc.)

    ↩ sn1.23:2.2

  4. The previous verse dealt with the one who is practicing; this verse with the perfected one; and the final verse with final extinguishment.

    ↩ sn1.23:3.1