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The Questions of the Student Upasīva

Upasīvamāṇavapucchā

What support should one hold on to in order to cross over the flood of craving? Can an awakened person be described?

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

  • 0.1Sutta Nipāta 5.7Anthology of Discourses 5.7

0.2UpasīvamāṇavapucchāThe Questions of Upasīva

1.1“Eko ahaṁ sakka mahantamoghaṁ,“Alone and independent, O Sakyan,”1.2(iccāyasmā upasīvo)said Venerable Upasīva,1.3Anissito no visahāmi tārituṁ;“I am not able to cross the great flood.1.4Ārammaṇaṁ brūhi samantacakkhu,Tell me a support, All-seer,11.5Yaṁ nissito oghamimaṁ tareyyaṁ”.depending on which I may cross this flood.”

2.1“Ākiñcaññaṁ pekkhamāno satimā,“Mindfully contemplating nothingness,”2.2(upasīvāti bhagavā)replied the Buddha,2.3Natthīti nissāya tarassu oghaṁ;“depending on the perception ‘there is nothing’, <j>cross the flood.22.4Kāme pahāya virato kathāhi,Giving up sensual pleasures, <j>refraining from chatter,32.5Taṇhakkhayaṁ nattamahābhipassa”.watch day and night for the ending of craving.”4

3.1“Sabbesu kāmesu yo vītarāgo,“One who is free of desire for sensual pleasures,”3.2(iccāyasmā upasīvo)said Venerable Upasīva,3.3Ākiñcaññaṁ nissito hitvā maññaṁ;“depending on nothingness, all else left behind,3.4Saññāvimokkhe parame vimutto,freed in the ultimate liberation of perception:53.5Tiṭṭhe nu so tattha anānuyāyī”.might they remain there without traveling on?”

4.1“Sabbesu kāmesu yo vītarāgo,“One free of desire for sensual pleasures,”4.2(upasīvāti bhagavā)replied the Buddha,4.3Ākiñcaññaṁ nissito hitvā maññaṁ;“depending on nothingness, all else left behind,4.4Saññāvimokkhe parame vimutto,freed in the ultimate liberation of perception:4.5Tiṭṭheyya so tattha anānuyāyī”.they might remain there without traveling on.”

5.1“Tiṭṭhe ce so tattha anānuyāyī,“If they were to remain there without traveling on,65.2Pūgampi vassānaṁ samantacakkhu;even for myriad years, All-seer,75.3Tattheva so sītisiyā vimutto,and, being freed, were to grow cool right there,5.4Cavetha viññāṇaṁ tathāvidhassa”.would the consciousness of that sort pass away?”

6.1“Accī yathā vātavegena khittā,“As a flame tossed by a gust of wind,”6.2(upasīvāti bhagavā)replied the Buddha,6.3Atthaṁ paleti na upeti saṅkhaṁ;“comes to an end and cannot be reckoned;86.4Evaṁ munī nāmakāyā vimutto,so too, a sage freed <j>from the set of mental phenomena96.5Atthaṁ paleti na upeti saṅkhaṁ”.comes to an end and cannot be reckoned.”

7.1“Atthaṅgato so uda vā so natthi,“One who has disappeared—do they not exist?7.2Udāhu ve sassatiyā arogo;Or are they free from disease for eternity?7.3Taṁ me munī sādhu viyākarohi,Please, sage, answer me clearly,7.4Tathā hi te vidito esa dhammo”.for truly you understand this matter.”

8.1“Atthaṅgatassa na pamāṇamatthi,“One who has disappeared cannot be defined,”8.2(upasīvāti bhagavā)replied the Buddha.8.3Yena naṁ vajjuṁ taṁ tassa natthi;“They have nothing <j>by which others might describe them.8.4Sabbesu dhammesu samohatesu,When all things have been eradicated,8.5Samūhatā vādapathāpi sabbe”ti.eradicated, too, are all ways of speech.”

8.6Upasīvamāṇavapucchā chaṭṭhī.

Translator’s notes

  1. At Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.17, the ultimate “support” is the syllable om.

    ↩ snp5.7:1.4

  2. Natthīti abbreviates natthi kiñcī’ti, which marks the dimension of nothingness.

    ↩ snp5.7:2.3

  3. Niddesa explains kathāhi as either “doubts” (truncated kathaṅkathā), or “talks”. Elsewhere (paṭi)virato is commonly used with speech and never, to my knowledge, with doubt.

    ↩ snp5.7:2.4

  4. Nattamaha (“day and night”) is a unique expression that draws on the Vedic nakta.

    ↩ snp5.7:2.5

  5. Accept text’s vimutto against Niddesa’s (a)dhimutto (Cnd 10:22.2). Here, the meditator has already attained the dimension of nothingness, which is the highest of the attainments “with perception” (SN 14.11:5.1). Adhimutta would imply that they are “intent on” realizing the next attainment, as for example MN 105:13.4.

    ↩ snp5.7:3.4

  6. In this verse, tiṭṭhe, sītisiyā, and cavetha are all optatives.

    ↩ snp5.7:5.1

  7. Pūga is explained by the Niddesa as thousands of years or eons, a meaning also found at Pv 42:9.2. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa has varṣa-pūga in the same sense (2.5.34, 4.12.43).

    ↩ snp5.7:5.2

  8. Compare the stock idiom saṅkhampi na upeti at eg. SN 20.2:1.7; also Snp 1.12:3.4. Also compare na pamāṇameti at Iti 69:4.3.

    ↩ snp5.7:6.3

  9. Nāmakāya appears here and at DN 15:20.2 meaning the “set” of mental phenomena known as “name”.

    ↩ snp5.7:6.4