True DhammaLibrary · Community
SN 13.3PTS SN 2.1331 min read

Where the Waters Join Together

Sambhejjaudakasutta

For someone who has seen the truth, the suffering eliminated is like the water at the confluence of great rivers; what remains is like a few drops.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 13.3Linked Discourses 13.3
  • 0.21. Abhisamayavagga1. Comprehension

0.3SambhejjaudakasuttaWhere the Waters Join Together

1.1PTS 2.135Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, yatthimā mahānadiyo saṁsandanti samenti, seyyathidaṁ—“Mendicants, there are places where the great rivers—the Ganges, Yamunā, Aciravatī, Sarabhū, and Mahī—join together and converge.11.3gaṅgā yamunā aciravatī sarabhū mahī, tato puriso dve vā tīṇi vā udakaphusitāni uddhareyya.Suppose a person was to draw two or three drops of water from such a place.

1.4Taṁ kiṁ maññatha, bhikkhave,What do you think, mendicants?1.5katamaṁ nu kho bahutaraṁ, yāni vā dve vā tīṇi vā udakaphusitāni ubbhatāni yaṁ vā sambhejjaudakan”ti?Which is more: the two or three drops drawn out or the water in the confluence?”

2.1“Etadeva, bhante, bahutaraṁ yadidaṁ sambhejjaudakaṁ;“Sir, the water in the confluence is certainly more.2.2appamattakāni dve vā tīṇi vā udakaphusitāni ubbhatāni.The two or three drops drawn out are tiny.2.3Neva satimaṁ kalaṁ upenti na sahassimaṁ kalaṁ upenti na satasahassimaṁ kalaṁ upenti sambhejjaudakaṁ upanidhāya dve vā tīṇi vā udakaphusitāni ubbhatānī”ti.Compared to the water in the confluence, it’s not nearly a hundredth, a thousandth, or a hundred thousandth part.”

2.4“Evameva kho, bhikkhave …pe…“In the same way, for a noble disciple, the suffering that’s over and done with is more …”2.5dhammacakkhupaṭilābho”ti.

2.6Tatiyaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. The Ganges (Pali gaṅgā) is the greatest river of India. Arising far to the west in Uttarakhand, it flows 2,525 km, emptying into the Bay of Bengal in Banfgladesh. The other rivers mentioned here are all its tributaries.

    Yamunā is a major southern tributary of the Ganges, joining it at Payāga.

    Aciravatī is today the West Rapti, on whose banks Sāvatthī was located. Winding down from Nepal, it joins the Sarabhū to the north west of the confluence with the Ganges, in or near the land of the Kālāmas.

    Sarabhū (Sanskrit sarayū) is the modern Gaghara, one of the largest northern tributaries of the Ganges, joining it west of Pāṭaliputta, modern Patna.

    Mahī is the modern Kosi, which flows from Tibet through Nepal to join the Ganges in Aṅga, east of Pāṭaliputta around modern Kursela.

    Also at SN 56.53.

    ↩ sn13.3:1.2