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SN 38.11PTS SN 4.2571 min read

A Question About Floods

Oghapañhāsutta

The wanderer Jambukhādaka asks Sāriputta what are the floods.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 38.11Linked Discourses 38.11
  • 0.21. Jambukhādakavagga1. With Jambukhādaka

0.3OghapañhāsuttaA Question About Floods

1.1PTS 4.258“‘Ogho, ogho’ti, āvuso sāriputta, vuccati.“Reverend Sāriputta, they speak of this thing called ‘a flood’.11.2Katamo nu kho, āvuso, ogho”ti?What is a flood?”

1.3“Cattārome, āvuso, oghā.“Reverend, there are these four floods.1.4Kāmogho, bhavogho, diṭṭhogho, avijjogho—The floods of sensuality, desire to be reborn, views, and ignorance.1.5ime kho, āvuso, cattāro oghā”ti.These are the four floods.”

1.6“Atthi panāvuso, maggo atthi paṭipadā, etesaṁ oghānaṁ pahānāyā”ti?“But, reverend, is there a path and a practice for completely understanding these floods?”

1.7“Atthi kho, āvuso, maggo atthi paṭipadā, etesaṁ oghānaṁ pahānāyā”ti.“There is.” …

1.8“Katamo panāvuso, maggo katamā paṭipadā, etesaṁ oghānaṁ pahānāyā”ti?1.9“Ayameva kho, āvuso, ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, etesaṁ oghānaṁ pahānāya, seyyathidaṁ—1.10sammādiṭṭhi …pe… sammāsamādhi.1.11Ayaṁ kho, āvuso, maggo ayaṁ paṭipadā, etesaṁ oghānaṁ pahānāyā”ti.1.12“Bhaddako, āvuso, maggo bhaddikā paṭipadā, etesaṁ oghānaṁ pahānāya.1.13Alañca panāvuso sāriputta, appamādāyā”ti.

1.14Ekādasamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. The Buddha lived and taught in the Gangetic plain, a region characterized by deadly and unpredictable flooding.

    ↩ sn38.11:1.1