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SN 20.11PTS SN 2.2711 min read

A Jackal

Siṅgālasutta

A mangy jackal howls in discomfort, but even that would be a good rebirth for some.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 20.11Linked Discourses 20.11
  • 0.21. Opammavagga1. Similes

0.3SiṅgālasuttaA Jackal

1.1PTS 2.272Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Assuttha no tumhe, bhikkhave, rattiyā paccūsasamayaṁ jarasiṅgālassa vassamānassā”ti?“Mendicants, did you hear an old jackal howling at the crack of dawn?”1

1.3“Evaṁ, bhante”.“Yes, sir.”

1.4“Eso kho, bhikkhave, jarasiṅgālo ukkaṇḍakena nāma rogajātena phuṭṭho.“That old jackal has the disease called mange.1.5So yena yena icchati tena tena gacchati;Yet it still goes where it wants,1.6yattha yattha icchati tattha tattha tiṭṭhati;stands where it wants,1.7yattha yattha icchati tattha tattha nisīdati;sits where it wants,1.8yattha yattha icchati tattha tattha nipajjati;and lies down where it wants.1.9sītakopi naṁ vāto upavāyati.And the cool breeze still blows on it.1.10Sādhu khvassa, bhikkhave, yaṁ idhekacco sakyaputtiyapaṭiñño evarūpampi attabhāvapaṭilābhaṁ paṭisaṁvediyetha.A certain person here who claims to follow the Sakyan would be lucky to experience even such an incarnation.2

1.11Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṁ sikkhitabbaṁ:So you should train like this:1.12‘appamattā viharissāmā’ti.‘We will stay diligent.’1.13Evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban”ti.That’s how you should train.”

1.14Ekādasamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Similar to SN 17.8, but somehow even more brutal in its application.

    ↩ sn20.11:1.2
  2. Devadatta.

    ↩ sn20.11:1.10