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SN 6.4PTS (1st ed) SN 1.1423 min read

With Baka the Divinity

Bakabrahmasutta

Baka the Brahmā conceives the wrong view that his status is permanent and imperishable. The Buddha goes to dissuade him, and they have an exchange in verse, with the Buddha telling Baka of his past lives.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 6.4Linked Discourses 6.4
  • 0.21. Paṭhamavagga1. The Appeal

0.3BakabrahmasuttaWith Baka the Divinity

1.1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—So I have heard.1.2ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.1

1.3Tena kho pana samayena bakassa brahmuno evarūpaṁ pāpakaṁ diṭṭhigataṁ uppannaṁ hoti:Now at that time Baka the Divinity had the following harmful misconception:21.4“idaṁ niccaṁ, idaṁ dhuvaṁ, idaṁ sassataṁ, idaṁ kevalaṁ, idaṁ acavanadhammaṁ, idañhi na jāyati na jīyati na mīyati na cavati na upapajjati, ito ca panaññaṁ uttari nissaraṇaṁ natthī”ti.“This is permanent, this is everlasting, this is eternal, this is whole, this is not liable to pass away. For this is where there’s no being born, growing old, dying, passing away, or being reborn. And there’s no other escape beyond this.”3

2.1Atha kho bhagavā bakassa brahmuno cetasā cetoparivitakkamaññāya—seyyathāpi nāma balavā puriso samiñjitaṁ vā bāhaṁ pasāreyya, pasāritaṁ vā bāhaṁ samiñjeyya; evameva—jetavane antarahito tasmiṁ brahmaloke pāturahosi.Then the Buddha knew Baka the Divinity’s train of thought. As easily as a strong person would extend or contract their arm, he vanished from Jeta’s Grove and reappeared in that realm of divinity.

2.2Addasā kho bako brahmā bhagavantaṁ dūratova āgacchantaṁ.Baka the Divinity saw the Buddha coming off in the distance2.3Disvāna bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:and said to him,2.4“ehi kho, mārisa, svāgataṁ te, mārisa.“Come, good fellow! Welcome, good fellow!2.5Cirassaṁ kho, mārisa, imaṁ pariyāyamakāsi yadidaṁ idhāgamanāya.It’s been a long time since you took the opportunity to come here.2.6Idañhi, mārisa, niccaṁ, idaṁ dhuvaṁ, idaṁ sassataṁ, idaṁ kevalaṁ, idaṁ acavanadhammaṁ, idañhi na jāyati na jīyati na mīyati na cavati na upapajjati. Ito ca panaññaṁ uttari nissaraṇaṁ natthī”ti.For this is permanent, this is everlasting, this is eternal, this is whole, this is not liable to pass away. For this is where there’s no being born, growing old, dying, passing away, or being reborn. And there’s no other escape beyond this.”

3.1Evaṁ vutte, bhagavā bakaṁ brahmānaṁ etadavoca:When he had spoken, the Buddha said to him,3.2“avijjāgato vata bho bako brahmā, avijjāgato vata bho bako brahmā.“Alas, Baka the Divinity is lost in ignorance! Alas, Baka the Divinity is lost in ignorance!3.3Yatra hi nāma aniccaṁyeva samānaṁ niccanti vakkhati, adhuvaṁyeva samānaṁ dhuvanti vakkhati, asassataṁyeva samānaṁ sassatanti vakkhati, akevalaṁyeva samānaṁ kevalanti vakkhati, cavanadhammaṁyeva samānaṁ acavanadhammanti vakkhati.Because what is actually impermanent, not lasting, transient, incomplete, and liable to pass away, he says is permanent, everlasting, eternal, whole, and not liable to pass away.3.4Yattha ca pana jāyati ca jīyati ca mīyati ca cavati ca upapajjati ca, tañca tathā vakkhati:And where there is being born, growing old, dying, passing away, and being reborn, he says that3.5‘idañhi na jāyati na jīyati na mīyati na cavati na upapajjati’.there’s no being born, growing old, dying, passing away, or being reborn.3.6Santañca panaññaṁ uttari nissaraṇaṁ, ‘natthaññaṁ uttari nissaraṇan’ti vakkhatī”ti.And although there is another escape beyond this, he says that there’s no other escape beyond this.”

4.1“Dvāsattati gotama puññakammā,“Gotama, we seventy-two merit-makers <j>are now wielders of power,44.2Vasavattino jātijaraṁ atītā;having passed beyond rebirth and old age.4.3Ayamantimā vedagū brahmupapatti,This is our last rebirth as the Divinity, <j>O knowledge master.4.4Asmābhijappanti janā anekā”ti.And now many people pray to us.”

5.1“Appañhi etaṁ na hi dīghamāyu,“But, Baka, the lifespan here is short, not long,5.2Yaṁ tvaṁ baka maññasi dīghamāyuṁ;though you think it’s long.5.3Sataṁ sahassānaṁ nirabbudānaṁ,A hundred thousand times a hundred million years—5.4Āyuṁ pajānāmi tavāhaṁ brahme”ti.I understand your lifespan, Divinity.”5

6.1“Anantadassī bhagavāhamasmi,“I am the blessed one of infinite vision,66.2Jātijaraṁ sokamupātivatto;who has gone beyond rebirth and old age and sorrow.6.3Kiṁ me purāṇaṁ vatasīlavattaṁ,What was my past practice of precept and observance?76.4Ācikkha me taṁ yamahaṁ vijaññā”ti.Explain to me so that I may understand.”

7.1“Yaṁ tvaṁ apāyesi bahū manusse,“You gave drink to many humans87.2Pipāsite ghammani samparete;who were oppressed by thirst and heat.7.3Taṁ te purāṇaṁ vatasīlavattaṁ,That’s your past practice of precept and observance.7.4Suttappabuddhova anussarāmi.I recollect it like one who has wakened from sleep.9

8.1Yaṁ eṇikūlasmiṁ janaṁ gahītaṁ,When people at Deer River Bank were seized,8.2Amocayī gayhakaṁ nīyamānaṁ;you released the captives as they were led away.8.3Taṁ te purāṇaṁ vatasīlavattaṁ,That’s your past practice of precept and observance.8.4Suttappabuddhova anussarāmi.I recollect it like one who has wakened from sleep.

9.1Gaṅgāya sotasmiṁ gahītanāvaṁ,When a boat on the Ganges River was seized9.2Luddena nāgena manussakamyā;by a fierce dragon desiring human flesh,9.3Pamocayittha balasā pasayha,you freed it wielding mighty force.9.4Taṁ te purāṇaṁ vatasīlavattaṁ;That’s your past practice of precept and observance.9.5Suttappabuddhova anussarāmi.I recollect it like one who has wakened from sleep.

10.1Kappo ca te baddhacaro ahosiṁ,I used to be your footman named Kappa.1010.2Sambuddhimantaṁ vatinaṁ amaññi;You thought he was intelligent and loyal.10.3Taṁ te purāṇaṁ vatasīlavattaṁ,That’s your past practice <j>of precept and observance.10.4Suttappabuddhova anussarāmī”ti.I recollect it like one who has wakened from sleep.”

11.1“Addhā pajānāsi mametamāyuṁ,“You certainly understand this lifespan of mine.1111.2Aññepi jānāsi tathā hi buddho;And others, too, you know; <j>that’s why you’re the Buddha.11.3Tathā hi tyāyaṁ jalitānubhāvo,And that’s why your blazing glory11.4Obhāsayaṁ tiṭṭhati brahmalokan”ti.lights up even the realm of divinity.”

Translator’s notes

  1. The opening is shared with MN 49, except there the Buddha recalls an encounter at Ukkaṭṭhā. See also Ja 405.

    ↩ sn6.4:1.2

  2. Baka maintains the same wrong view at MN 49:2.2, where he engages the Buddha in philosophical debate. The word baka means “stork” or “crane”. To search for a high divinity of this name in Brahmanism is to be disappointed, for instead we find a man-eating demon (rakṣasa) in bird form whose fate is to be slain by the hero Bhīma (or Kṛṣṇa). Pali stories tell of how the stork dozes peacefully as if meditating by the water, while in reality he is trying to fool fish into approaching so he can snatch them up (Ja 38, Ja 236). A cunning, large, white, high-flying, predatory bird who fakes meditation is a fitting image for the antagonist of these suttas.

    ↩ sn6.4:1.3

  3. The use of the impersonal pronoun (idaṁ) to refer to the self as divinity is a characteristic Upaniṣadic idiom: “you are that” (tat tvam asi, Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8.7); “that self is divinity” (ayam ātmā brahma, Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad 1.2); “I am that” (so’ham asmi, Īśa Upaniṣad 16); “this is that self hidden in all” (eṣa ta ātmā sarvāntaraḥ, Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.4.1, etc.); “this, verily, is that” (etad vai tat, Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.1.5).

    For idaṁ niccaṁ see eṣa nityo (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.23); for idaṁ dhuvaṁ see etad apramayaṁ dhruvam (4.4.20).

    “Whole” (kevala) is a Brahmanical term indicating complete union with Divinity.

    ↩ sn6.4:1.4

  4. Neither text nor commentary is helpful here. Perhaps the number seventy-two indicates his former royal status, as Manu 7.157 tells us king’s retinue consists of six circles of twelve people.

    From this point the text diverges from MN 49:5.1.

    ↩ sn6.4:4.1

  5. For the math, see note to SN 6.10:10.1.

    ↩ sn6.4:5.4

  6. The commentary thinks Baka is quoting the Buddha here, but I doubt it. First, the phrasing ahamasmi (“I am”) is characteristic of Brahmā (eg. DN 1:2.5.2). Second, the Buddha does not, in fact, claim to be one of “infinite vision” (anantadassī) in early Pali. Third, the text reads straightforwardly as a statement by Baka. Fourth, bhagavā is widely used as a term of respectful address in the Upaniṣads, while later Sanskrit uses anantadṛṣṭi as an epithet of Indra or Śiva. The rhetorical posture is similar to DN 11:83.6; Baka is overcompensating, his bluster betraying his insecurity.

    ↩ sn6.4:6.1

  7. Normally it is understood that rebirth as a high Divinity requires the practice of deep meditative absorption (jhāna), which is not mentioned here. However, Baka is not asking about the kamma that led to him becoming a Divinity, but about the bodily acts he did in the past.

    ↩ sn6.4:6.3

  8. These stories are explained at length in the commentary.

    ↩ sn6.4:7.1

  9. This unusual phrase is, I think, suggestive of a key difference between the Upaniṣads and the Buddha. The Upaniṣads frequently treat the state of sleep and dream as a mystical union, where a person draws closer to divinity, and which appears as a mysterious analogue or manifestation of deep contemplation or realization (eg. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.1.16ff.). I believe the Buddha is called the “Awakened One” in deliberate contrast with that way of knowing.

    ↩ sn6.4:7.4

  10. This shows the changeability of status. See Kesava Jātaka (Ja 346).

    ↩ sn6.4:10.1

  11. Despite his praise, here as in MN 49 Baka does not declare himself a follower of the Buddha.

    ↩ sn6.4:11.1