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SN 38.16PTS SN 4.2601 min read

A Question About What’s Hard to Do

Dukkarapañhāsutta

The wanderer Jambukhādaka asks Sāriputta what is difficult to do in this teaching and training.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 38.16Linked Discourses 38.16
  • 0.21. Jambukhādakavagga1. With Jambukhādaka

0.3DukkarapañhāsuttaA Question About What’s Hard to Do

1.1“Kiṁ nu kho, āvuso sāriputta, imasmiṁ dhammavinaye dukkaran”ti?“Reverend Sāriputta, in this teaching and training, what is hard to do?”1

1.2“Pabbajjā kho, āvuso, imasmiṁ dhammavinaye dukkarā”ti.“Going forth, reverend, is hard to do in this teaching and training.”

1.3“Pabbajitena panāvuso, kiṁ dukkaran”ti?“But what’s hard to do for someone who has gone forth?”

1.4“Pabbajitena kho, āvuso, abhirati dukkarā”ti.“When you’ve gone forth it’s hard to be satisfied.”

1.5“Abhiratena panāvuso, kiṁ dukkaran”ti?“But what’s hard to do for someone who is satisfied?”

1.6“Abhiratena kho, āvuso, dhammānudhammappaṭipatti dukkarā”ti.“When you’re satisfied, it’s hard to practice in line with the teaching.”

1.7“Kīvaciraṁ panāvuso, dhammānudhammappaṭipanno bhikkhu arahaṁ assā”ti?“But if a mendicant practices in line with the teaching, will it take them long to become a perfected one?”

1.8“Naciraṁ, āvuso”ti.“Not long, reverend.”

1.9Soḷasamaṁ.

1.10Jambukhādakasaṁyuttaṁ samattaṁ.The Linked Discourses with Jambukhādaka are complete.

2.0Tassuddānaṁ

2.1PTS 4.261Nibbānaṁ arahattañca,2.2dhammavādī kimatthiyaṁ;2.3Assāso paramassāso,2.4vedanā āsavāvijjā;2.5Taṇhā oghā upādānaṁ,2.6bhavo dukkhañca sakkāyo.2.7Imasmiṁ dhammavinaye dukkaranti.

Translator’s notes

  1. This discourse marks a shift in Jambukhādaka’s spiritual development. No longer just interested in clarifying terms, he is curious about the path. There is no record of whether he followed through.

    ↩ sn38.16:1.1