True DhammaLibrary · Community
SN 45.27PTS SN 5.201 min read

Pots

Kumbhasutta

Someone without the eightfold path is easily knocked over, like a pot without a stand.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 45.27Linked Discourses 45.27
  • 0.23. Micchattavagga3. The Wrong Way

0.3KumbhasuttaPots

1.1PTS 5.21Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, kumbho anādhāro suppavattiyo hoti, sādhāro duppavattiyo hoti;“A pot without a stand is easy to overturn, but if it has a stand it’s hard to overturn.1.3evameva kho, bhikkhave, cittaṁ anādhāraṁ suppavattiyaṁ hoti, sādhāraṁ duppavattiyaṁ hoti.In the same way, a mind without a stand is easy to overturn, but if it has a stand it’s hard to overturn.

1.4Ko ca, bhikkhave, cittassa ādhāro?And what’s the stand for the mind?1.5Ayameva ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, seyyathidaṁ—It is simply this noble eightfold path, that is:1.6sammādiṭṭhi …pe… sammāsamādhi.right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.1.7Ayaṁ cittassa ādhāro.This is the stand for the mind.

1.8Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, kumbho anādhāro suppavattiyo hoti, sādhāro duppavattiyo hoti;A pot without a stand is easy to overturn, but if it has a stand it’s hard to overturn.1.9evameva kho, bhikkhave, cittaṁ anādhāraṁ suppavattiyaṁ hoti, sādhāraṁ duppavattiyaṁ hotī”ti.In the same way, a mind without a stand is easy to overturn, but if it has a stand it’s hard to overturn.”1

1.10Sattamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Compare the (8th century?) Chinese text the Platform Sutra, which contains the line, “The mind is like a bright mirror’s stand.”

    ↩ sn45.27:1.9