The Sutta Nipata
The "Sutta Collection"
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Sutta Nipata IV.4
Suddhatthaka Sutta
On Purity
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
Read an alternate translation by Thanissaro
Bhikkhu
"'Here I see one who is pure, entirely free of sickness.
By seeing him a man may attain to purity!'
"Convinced of that and thinking it 'the highest,' he
believes it to be knowledge when he contemplates 'the pure one.'[1]
But if by sights man can gain purification or if through such knowledge he could
leave suffering behind, then, one who still has attachments could be purified by
another.[2] However, this is merely the opinion of
those who so assert.
"The (true) brahmana[3] has
said one is not purified by another, nor by what is seen, heard or perceived (by
the other senses), nor, by the performance of ritual observances. He (the true
brahmana) is not defiled by merit or demerit. Having given up what he had
(previously) grasped at, he no longer engages in producing (any kamma). Having
left a former (object) they attach themselves to another, dominated by craving
they do not go beyond attachment. They reject and seize, like a monkey letting
go of a branch to take hold of another.
"A person having undertaken a ritual act goes this way
and that, fettered by his senses. But one with a wide wisdom, having understood
and gone into the Dhamma with his experience, does not go this way and that. For
a person indifferent towards all conditions, whatever is seen, heard or
cognized, he is one who sees it as it really is and lives with clarity (of
mind). With what could he be identified in the world?
"They do not speculate nor pursue (any notion), they do
not claim perfect purity. Loosening the knot (of clinging) with which they are
bound, they do not have longing anywhere in the world. The (true) brahmana who
has gone beyond limitations, having understood and seen there is no longer any
assumption for him, he is neither disturbed by lust nor agitated by revulsion.
For him there is nothing upheld as 'the highest.'"
-- vv. 788-795
Notes
1. This refers to the old Indian
belief in "auspicious sights" (dittha-mangala), the belief that
by merely beholding something or someone regarded as a holy object or person,
purity, or whatever else is desired, may be gained.
[Go back]
2. By another method, other than that
of the Noble Eightfold Path (Comy.); but it could also mean, "by the sight
of another person."
[Go back]
3. I.e., the Buddha.
[Go back]
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