SN 2.17PTS (1st ed) SN 1.531 min read

With Subrahmā

Subrahmasutta

Subrahmā the god asks for the escape from fear. The Buddha says there is no escape from fear without letting go of everything.

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

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.17Linked Discourses 2.17
0.22. Anāthapiṇḍikavagga2. With Anāthapiṇḍika

0.3SubrahmasuttaWith Subrahmā

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

2.1“Niccaṁ utrastamidaṁ cittaṁ,“This mind is always anxious,2.2niccaṁ ubbiggamidaṁ mano;this mind is always stressed2.3Anuppannesu kicchesu,about stresses that haven’t arisen2.4atho uppatitesu ca;and those that have.2.5Sace atthi anutrastaṁ,If there is a state free of anxiety,2.6taṁ me akkhāhi pucchito”ti.please answer my question.”
3.1“Nāññatra bojjhā tapasā,“Not without understanding and fervor,²3.2nāññatrindriyasaṁvarā;not without restraining the sense faculties,3.3Nāññatra sabbanissaggā,not without letting go of everything,3.4sotthiṁ passāmi pāṇinan”ti.do I see safety for living creatures.”

4.1Idamavoca …pe…That is what the Buddha said. …³4.2tatthevantaradhāyīti.The godling vanished right there.

Translator’s notes

Probably not the same individual as the “independent divinity” Subrahmā (SN 6.6–8 and DN 20:20.1). In the Rig Veda, subrahma meant “good sacred formulation” (Rig Veda 7.16.2, 10.47.3, 10.62.4)
↩ sn2.17:1.1
PTS reads bojjhaṅgatapasā; Yogācārabhūmi Śarīrārthagāthā 5.2 hasjñānatapaso; SA 596 seems to pass over bojjha; while SA2 181 has 智慧者, “wise one”. I follow Bodhi in accepting the MS reading, nāññatra bojjhā tapasā.
↩ sn2.17:3.1
This prose fragment is unusual here. Such endings are normally abbreviated in the Pali, although they are retained in the Chinese.
↩ sn2.17:4.1