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SN 2.28PTS (1st ed) SN 1.631 min read

With Nandivisāla

Nandivisālasutta

The god Nandivisāla gives an elaborate metaphor for the body, and asks how to escape from it.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.28Linked Discourses 2.28
  • 0.23. Nānātitthiyavagga3. Various Sectarians

0.3NandivisālasuttaWith Nandivisāla

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

2.1“Catucakkaṁ navadvāraṁ,“Four are its wheels, and nine its doors;22.2puṇṇaṁ lobhena saṁyutaṁ;it’s stuffed full, bound with greed,2.3Paṅkajātaṁ mahāvīra,and born from a bog.2.4kathaṁ yātrā bhavissatī”ti.Great hero, how will I keep going?”

3.1“Chetvā naddhiṁ varattañca,“Having cut the strap and harness—3.2icchālobhañca pāpakaṁ;wicked desire and greed—3.3Samūlaṁ taṇhamabbuyha,and having plucked out craving, root and all:3.4evaṁ yātrā bhavissatī”ti.that’s how you will keep going.”

Translator’s notes

  1. At Bu Pc 2 = Ja 28 we meet an ox of this name. Perhaps the virtuous beast was reborn as a god, still concerned with pulling laden carts. Pāṇini lists it as a name, but no such individual has been identified in Sanskrit.

    ↩ sn2.28:1.1

  2. These verses are also at SN 1.29; see notes there.

    ↩ sn2.28:2.1