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SN 2.5PTS (1st ed) SN 1.471 min read

With Dāmali

Dāmalisutta

Dāmali the god suggests that a true brahmin must strive to abandon desire. The Buddha disagrees, saying that a true holy one has already completed their work.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.5Linked Discourses 2.5
  • 0.21. PaṭhamavaggaChapter One

0.3DāmalisuttaWith Dāmali

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Atha kho dāmali devaputto abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇo kevalakappaṁ jetavanaṁ obhāsetvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi.Then, late at night, the glorious godling Dāmali, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side,11.3Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho dāmali devaputto bhagavato santike imaṁ gāthaṁ abhāsi:and spoke this verse in the Buddha’s presence:

2.1“Karaṇīyametaṁ brāhmaṇena,“This is what should be done by a brahmin:22.2Padhānaṁ akilāsunā;unrelenting striving.2.3Kāmānaṁ vippahānena,Then, with the giving up of sensual pleasures,2.4Na tenāsīsate bhavan”ti.they won’t hope to be reborn.”

3.1“Natthi kiccaṁ brāhmaṇassa,“The brahmin has nothing left to do,”33.2(dāmalīti bhagavā)said the Buddha to Dāmali,3.3Katakicco hi brāhmaṇo;“for they’ve completed their task.3.4Yāva na gādhaṁ labhati nadīsu,So long as a personage fails to gain a footing in the river,3.5Āyūhati sabbagattebhi jantu;they swim with every limb.43.6Gādhañca laddhāna thale ṭhito yo,But someone who has gained a footing <j>and stands on dry land3.7Nāyūhatī pāragato hi sova.need not swim, <j>for they have reached the far shore.

4.1Esūpamā dāmali brāhmaṇassa,Dāmali, this is a simile for the brahmin,4.2Khīṇāsavassa nipakassa jhāyino;alert, a meditator who has ended defilements.4.3Pappuyya jātimaraṇassa antaṁ,Since they’ve reached the end of rebirth and death,4.4Nāyūhatī pāragato hi so”ti.they need not swim, <j>for they have reached the far shore.”

Translator’s notes

  1. Dāmali is elsewhere unknown. But cf. Vedic dāman, “giver”, which is associated with magha at Rig Veda 5.79.4. Given its close association with Indra, who is “made to be a giver” (8.93.8, see too 5.36.1, 6.24.4), it seems likely this is yet another epithet of Sakka.

    ↩ sn2.5:1.2

  2. Dāmali is treating the “brahmin” as one who still needs to practice.

    This line parallels the opening of the Mettasutta (Snp 1.8:1.1).

    ↩ sn2.5:2.1

  3. For the Buddha, the only true brahmin is the arahant.

    ↩ sn2.5:3.1

  4. This couplet confirms the meaning “swim” for āyūhati.

    ↩ sn2.5:3.5