{"id":"sn20.9","title":"A Bull Elephant","languageCodes":["en","pi"],"languageNotes":{"en":"Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0","pi":"Mahāsaṅgīti edition · SuttaCentral"},"chapters":[{"id":"sn20.9","title":"A Bull Elephant","units":[{"id":"sn20.9:0","sourceIds":["sn20.9:0.1","sn20.9:0.2","sn20.9:0.3"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Saṁyutta Nikāya 20.9\n1. Opammavagga\nNāgasutta","en":"Linked Discourses 20.9\n1. Similes\nA Bull Elephant"}},{"id":"sn20.9:1","sourceIds":["sn20.9:1.1","sn20.9:1.2","sn20.9:1.3","sn20.9:1.4","sn20.9:1.5","sn20.9:1.6","sn20.9:1.7"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Evaṁ me sutaṁ—\nekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.\nTena kho pana samayena aññataro navo bhikkhu ativelaṁ kulāni upasaṅkamati.\nTamenaṁ bhikkhū evamāhaṁsu:\n“māyasmā ativelaṁ kulāni upasaṅkamī”ti.\nSo bhikkhu bhikkhūhi vuccamāno evamāha:\n“ime hi nāma therā bhikkhū kulāni upasaṅkamitabbaṁ maññissanti, kimaṅgaṁ panāhan”ti?","en":"So I have heard.\nAt one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.\nNow at that time a certain junior mendicant went to visit families too often.\nThe mendicants said to him,\n“Venerable, don’t go to visit families too often.”\nBut that mendicant, when spoken to by the mendicants, said this,\n“But these senior mendicants think they can go to visit families, so why can’t I?”"}},{"id":"sn20.9:2","sourceIds":["sn20.9:2.1","sn20.9:2.2","sn20.9:2.3","sn20.9:2.4","sn20.9:2.5","sn20.9:2.6"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Atha kho sambahulā bhikkhū yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdiṁsu. Ekamantaṁ nisinnā kho te bhikkhū bhagavantaṁ etadavocuṁ:\n“idha, bhante, aññataro navo bhikkhu ativelaṁ kulāni upasaṅkamati.\nTamenaṁ bhikkhū evamāhaṁsu:\n‘māyasmā ativelaṁ kulāni upasaṅkamī’ti.\nSo bhikkhu bhikkhūhi vuccamāno evamāha:\n‘ime hi nāma therā bhikkhū kulāni upasaṅkamitabbaṁ maññissanti, kimaṅgaṁ panāhan’”ti.","en":"And then several mendicants went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what had happened. The Buddha said:"}},{"id":"sn20.9:3","sourceIds":["sn20.9:3.1","sn20.9:3.2","sn20.9:3.3","sn20.9:3.4","sn20.9:3.5","sn20.9:3.6","sn20.9:3.7"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"“Bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, araññāyatane mahāsarasī.\nTaṁ nāgā upanissāya viharanti.\nTe taṁ sarasiṁ ogāhetvā soṇḍāya bhisamuḷālaṁ abbuhetvā suvikkhālitaṁ vikkhāletvā akaddamaṁ saṅkhāditvā ajjhoharanti.\nTesaṁ taṁ vaṇṇāya ceva hoti balāya ca, na ca tatonidānaṁ maraṇaṁ vā nigacchanti maraṇamattaṁ vā dukkhaṁ.\nTesaṁyeva kho pana, bhikkhave, mahānāgānaṁ anusikkhamānā taruṇā bhiṅkacchāpā taṁ sarasiṁ ogāhetvā soṇḍāya bhisamuḷālaṁ abbuhetvā na suvikkhālitaṁ vikkhāletvā sakaddamaṁ asaṅkhāditvā ajjhoharanti.\nTesaṁ taṁ neva vaṇṇāya hoti na balāya.\nTatonidānaṁ maraṇaṁ vā nigacchanti maraṇamattaṁ vā dukkhaṁ.","en":"“Once upon a time, mendicants, there was a great lake in the jungle,\nwith bull elephants living nearby.\nThey’d plunge into the lake and pull up lotus bulbs with their trunks. They’d wash them thoroughly until they were free of mud before chewing and swallowing them.\nThat was good for their appearance and strength, and wouldn’t result in death or deadly pain.\nThe young calves, following the example of the great bull elephants, plunged into the lake and pulled up lotus bulbs with their trunks. But they didn’t wash them thoroughly, and while they were still muddy they chewed and swallowed them.\nThat was not good for their appearance and strength, and resulted in death or deadly pain."}},{"id":"sn20.9:4","sourceIds":["sn20.9:4.1","sn20.9:4.2","sn20.9:4.3","sn20.9:4.4","sn20.9:4.5","sn20.9:4.6","sn20.9:4.7","sn20.9:4.8","sn20.9:4.9","sn20.9:4.10","sn20.9:4.11","sn20.9:4.12","sn20.9:4.13","sn20.9:4.14"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Evameva kho, bhikkhave, idha therā bhikkhū pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya gāmaṁ vā nigamaṁ vā piṇḍāya pavisanti.\nTe tattha dhammaṁ bhāsanti.\nTesaṁ gihī pasannākāraṁ karonti.\nTe taṁ lābhaṁ agadhitā amucchitā anajjhopannā ādīnavadassāvino nissaraṇapaññā paribhuñjanti.\nTesaṁ taṁ vaṇṇāya ceva hoti balāya ca, na ca tatonidānaṁ maraṇaṁ vā nigacchanti maraṇamattaṁ vā dukkhaṁ.\nTesaṁyeva kho pana, bhikkhave, therānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ anusikkhamānā navā bhikkhū pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya gāmaṁ vā nigamaṁ vā piṇḍāya pavisanti.\nTe tattha dhammaṁ bhāsanti.\nTesaṁ gihī pasannākāraṁ karonti.\nTe taṁ lābhaṁ gadhitā mucchitā ajjhopannā anādīnavadassāvino anissaraṇapaññā paribhuñjanti.\nTesaṁ taṁ neva vaṇṇāya hoti na balāya, te tatonidānaṁ maraṇaṁ vā nigacchanti maraṇamattaṁ vā dukkhaṁ.\nTasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṁ sikkhitabbaṁ:\n‘agadhitā amucchitā anajjhopannā ādīnavadassāvino nissaraṇapaññā taṁ lābhaṁ paribhuñjissāmā’ti.\nEvañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabban”ti.\nNavamaṁ.","en":"In the same way, there are senior mendicants who robe up in the morning and, taking their bowl and robe, enter the town or village for alms.\nThere they speak on the teachings,\nand lay people demonstrate their confidence in them.\nAnd when they get things, they use them untied, uninfatuated, unattached, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape.\nThat’s good for their appearance and strength, and doesn’t result in death or deadly pain.\nJunior mendicants, following the example of the senior mendicants, robe up in the morning and, taking their bowl and robe, enter the town or village for alms.\nThere they speak on the teachings,\nand lay people demonstrate their confidence in them.\nBut when they get things, they use them tied, infatuated, attached, blind to the drawbacks, not understanding the escape.\nThat’s not good for their appearance and strength, and results in death or deadly pain.\nSo you should train like this:\n‘When we get things, we will use them untied, uninfatuated, unattached, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape.’\nThat’s how you should train.”"}}]}],"sourceRevision":"afdafa92450cfe7573b280da50382888323666d2","sourceUrl":"https://suttacentral.net/sn20.9/en/sujato","licence":"CC0 1.0","licenceUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/","editionNote":"Full supplied source file; inherited abbreviations are preserved. Not a reconstructed expansion of every repetition. No Malay or Mandarin translation is implied."}