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SN 2.15PTS (1st ed) SN 1.531 min read

With Candana

Candanasutta

Candana asks who crosses the flood. The Buddha replies that it is one who is virtuous, wise, peaceful, and beyond attachment to rebirth.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.15Linked Discourses 2.15
  • 0.22. Anāthapiṇḍikavagga2. With Anāthapiṇḍika

0.3CandanasuttaWith Candana

1.1Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho candano devaputto bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:Standing to one side, the godling Candana addressed the Buddha in verse:1

2.1“Kathaṁsu tarati oghaṁ,“Who here crosses the flood,22.2rattindivamatandito;tireless all day and night?2.3Appatiṭṭhe anālambe,Who, not standing and unsupported,2.4ko gambhīre na sīdatī”ti.does not sink in the deep?”

3.1“Sabbadā sīlasampanno,“Someone who is always endowed with ethics,3.2Paññavā susamāhito;wise and serene,3.3Āraddhavīriyo pahitatto,energetic and resolute,3.4Oghaṁ tarati duttaraṁ.crosses the flood so hard to cross.

4.1Virato kāmasaññāya,Someone who desists from sensual perception,4.2rūpasaṁyojanātigo;has moved past the fetter of form,4.3Nandīrāgaparikkhīṇo,and has finished with relishing and greed4.4so gambhīre na sīdatī”ti.does not sink in the deep.”

Translator’s notes

  1. Candana appears in MN 134:6.4 and SN 40.11:1.1, and together with Kāmaseṭṭha in DN 20:10.5 and DN 32:10.4. Candana means “sandalwood”, although the name of the god might also relate to its root “shining”. The name rhymes with the previous (nandana/candana).

    ↩ sn2.15:1.1

  2. This question is found in two variants: “how do you cross the flood” (kathaṁsu tarati oghaṁ, Snp 1.10:8.1) and “who here crosses the flood” (ko sūdha tarati oghaṁ, Snp 1.9:23.1). The pattern seems to be that the question matches others in the same verse, so here it is “who”.

    ↩ sn2.15:2.1