Skip to content
True DhammaLibrary · Community
SN 17.1PTS SN 2.2251 min read

Grim

Dāruṇasutta

Material possessions, honor, and praise are terrible things, obstructing spiritual progress.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 17.1Linked Discourses 17.1
  • 0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3DāruṇasuttaGrim

1.1PTS 2.226Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.1.3Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:There the Buddha addressed the mendicants,1.4“bhikkhavo”ti.“Mendicants!”

1.5“Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ.“Venerable sir,” they replied.1.6Bhagavā etadavoca:The Buddha said this:

2.1“Dāruṇo, bhikkhave, lābhasakkārasiloko kaṭuko pharuso antarāyiko anuttarassa yogakkhemassa adhigamāya.“Possessions, honor, and popularity are grim, bitter, and harsh. They’re an obstacle to reaching the supreme sanctuary from the yoke.1

2.2Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṁ sikkhitabbaṁ:So you should train like this:2.3‘uppannaṁ lābhasakkārasilokaṁ pajahissāma, na ca no uppanno lābhasakkārasiloko cittaṁ pariyādāya ṭhassatī’ti.‘We will give up arisen possessions, honor, and popularity, and we won’t let them occupy our minds.’2.4Evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban”ti.That’s how you should train.”

2.5Paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Dāruṇa is “grim”, fearful and unyielding as tough wood; kaṭuka is “bitter” like the taste, or like stabbing pain; pharusa is “harsh” like a prickly bush or abusive speech.

    ↩ sn17.1:2.1