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### Sutta Nipata IV.16

# Sariputta Sutta

# To Sariputta

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

> "Never before
> have I seen or heard
> from anyone
> of a teacher with such lovely speech
> come, together with his following
> from Tusita heaven,[1]
> as the One with Eyes
> who appears to the world with its devas
> having dispelled all darkness
> having arrived at delight
> all alone.

> To that One Awakened --
> unentangled, Such, un-
> deceptive,
> come with his following --
> I have come with a question
> on behalf of the many
> here who are fettered.
> For a monk disaffected,
> frequenting a place that's remote --
> the root of a tree,
> a cemetery,
> in mountain caves
> various places to stay --
> how many are the fears there
> at which he shouldn't tremble
> -- there in his noiseless abode --
> how many the dangers in the world
> for the monk going the direction
> he never has gone
> that he should transcend
> there in his isolated abode?
> What should be
> the ways of his speech?
> What should be
> his range there of action?
> What should be
> a resolute monk's
> precepts & practices?[2]
> Undertaking what training
> -- alone, astute, & mindful --
> would he blow away
> his own impurities
> as a silver smith,
> those in molten silver?"

The Buddha:

> "I will tell you
> as one who knows,
> what is comfort
> for one disaffected
> resorting to a remote place,
> desiring self-awakening
> in line with the Dhamma.
> An enlightened monk,
> living circumscribed,
> mindful,
> shouldn't fear the five fears:
> of horseflies, mosquitoes, snakes,
> human contact, four-footed beings;
> shouldn't be disturbed
> by those following another's teaching
> even on seeing their manifold
> terrors;
> should overcome still other
> further dangers
> as he seeks what is skillful.

> Touched
> by the touch
> of discomforts, hunger,
> he should endure cold
> & inordinate heat.
> He with no home,
> in many ways touched by these things,
> striving, should make firm his persistence.

> He shouldn't commit a theft,
> shouldn't speak a lie,
> should touch with thoughts of good will
> beings firm & infirm.
> Conscious of when
> his mind is stirred up & turbid,
> he should dispel it:
> 'It's on the Dark One's side.'

> He shouldn't come under the sway
> of anger or pride.
> Having dug up their root
> he would stand firm.
> Then, when prevailing
> -- yes --
> he'd prevail over his sense of dear & undear.
> Yearning for discernment
> enraptured with what's admirable,
> he should overcome these dangers,
> should conquer discontent
> in his isolated spot,
> should conquer these four
> thoughts of lament:

> 'What will I eat,
> or where will I eat.
> How badly I slept.
> Tonight were will I sleep?'

> These lamenting thoughts
> he should subdue --
> one under training,
> wandering without home.
> Receiving food & cloth
> at appropriate times,
> he should have a sense of enough
> for the sake of contentment.[3]
> Guarded in regard to these things
> going restrained into a village,
> even when harassed
> he shouldn't say a harsh word.

> With eyes downcast,
> & not footloose,
> committed to jhana,
> he should be continually wakeful.[4]
> Strengthening equanimity,
> centered within,
> he should cut off any penchant
> to conjecture or worry.
> When reprimanded,
> he should -- mindful --
> rejoice;[5]
> should smash any stubbornness
> toward his fellows in the holy life;
> should utter skillful words
> that are not untimely;
> should give no mind
> to the gossip people might say.

> And then there are in the world
> the five kinds of dust
> for whose dispelling, mindful
> he should train:
> with regard to forms, sounds, tastes,
> smells, & tactile sensations
> he should conquer passion;
> with regard to these things
> he should subdue his desire.

> A monk, mindful,
> his mind well-released,
> contemplating the right Dhamma
> at the right times,
> on coming
> to oneness
> should annihilate
> darkness,"

> the Blessed One said.

### Notes

1. The Buddha spent his next-to-last lifetime in the Tusita heaven, one of the highest levels on the sensual plane. [Go back]

2. The fact that the Buddha answers this question in a straightforward manner illustrates the point that abandoning precepts and practices does not mean having no precepts and practices. See note 2 to Sn IV.13. [Go back]

3. See AN IV.37 and AN VII.64. [Go back]

4. See AN IV.37. [Go back]

5. See Dhp 76-77. [Go back]

See also: AN V.77; AN VIII.30

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001