{"id":"sn6.1","title":"The Appeal of the Divinity","languageCodes":["en","pi"],"languageNotes":{"en":"Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0","pi":"Mahāsaṅgīti edition · SuttaCentral"},"chapters":[{"id":"sn6.1","title":"The Appeal of the Divinity","units":[{"id":"sn6.1:0","sourceIds":["sn6.1:0.1","sn6.1:0.2","sn6.1:0.3"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Saṁyutta Nikāya 6.1\n1. Paṭhamavagga\nBrahmāyācanasutta","en":"Linked Discourses 6.1\n1. The Appeal\nThe Appeal of the Divinity"}},{"id":"sn6.1:1","sourceIds":["sn6.1:1.1","sn6.1:1.2","sn6.1:1.3","sn6.1:1.4","sn6.1:1.5","sn6.1:1.6","sn6.1:1.7","sn6.1:1.8","sn6.1:1.9"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Evaṁ me sutaṁ—\nekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā uruvelāyaṁ viharati najjā nerañjarāya tīre ajapālanigrodhamūle paṭhamābhisambuddho.\nAtha kho bhagavato rahogatassa paṭisallīnassa evaṁ cetaso parivitakko udapādi:\n“adhigato kho myāyaṁ dhammo gambhīro duddaso duranubodho santo paṇīto atakkāvacaro nipuṇo paṇḍitavedanīyo.\nĀlayarāmā kho panāyaṁ pajā ālayaratā ālayasammuditā.\nĀlayarāmāya kho pana pajāya ālayaratāya ālayasammuditāya duddasaṁ idaṁ ṭhānaṁ yadidaṁ idappaccayatāpaṭiccasamuppādo.\nIdampi kho ṭhānaṁ duddasaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānaṁ.\nAhañceva kho pana dhammaṁ deseyyaṁ; pare ca me na ājāneyyuṁ; so mamassa kilamatho, sā mamassa vihesā”ti.\nApissu bhagavantaṁ imā anacchariyā gāthāyo paṭibhaṁsu pubbe assutapubbā:","en":"So I have heard.\nAt one time, when he was first awakened, the Buddha was staying in Uruvelā at the root of the goatherd’s banyan tree on the bank of the Nerañjarā River.\nThen as he was in private retreat this thought came to his mind,\n“This principle I have discovered is deep, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful, sublime, beyond the scope of logic, subtle, comprehensible to the astute.\nBut people like clinging, they love it and enjoy it.\nIt’s hard for them to see this topic; that is, specific conditionality, dependent origination.\nIt’s also hard for them to see this topic; that is, the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment.\nAnd if I were to teach this principle, others might not understand me, which would be wearying and troublesome for me.”\nAnd then these verses, which were neither supernaturally inspired, nor learned before in the past, occurred to the Buddha:"}},{"id":"sn6.1:2","sourceIds":["sn6.1:2.1","sn6.1:2.2","sn6.1:2.3","sn6.1:2.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"“Kicchena me adhigataṁ,\nhalaṁ dāni pakāsituṁ;\nRāgadosaparetehi,\nnāyaṁ dhammo susambudho.","en":"“I’ve struggled hard to realize this,\nthere’s no need to reveal it now!\nThose mired in greed and hate\ncan’t really understand this teaching."}},{"id":"sn6.1:3","sourceIds":["sn6.1:3.1","sn6.1:3.2","sn6.1:3.3","sn6.1:3.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Paṭisotagāmiṁ nipuṇaṁ,\ngambhīraṁ duddasaṁ aṇuṁ;\nRāgarattā na dakkhanti,\ntamokhandhena āvuṭā”ti.","en":"It goes against the stream, subtle,\ndeep, obscure, and very fine.\nThose besotted by greed cannot see,\nfor they’re cloaked in a mass of darkness.”"}},{"id":"sn6.1:4","sourceIds":["sn6.1:4.1"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Itiha bhagavato paṭisañcikkhato appossukkatāya cittaṁ namati, no dhammadesanāya.","en":"And as the Buddha reflected like this, his mind inclined to remaining passive, not to teaching the Dhamma."}},{"id":"sn6.1:5","sourceIds":["sn6.1:5.1","sn6.1:5.2","sn6.1:5.3","sn6.1:5.4","sn6.1:5.5","sn6.1:5.6","sn6.1:5.7","sn6.1:5.8"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Atha kho brahmuno sahampatissa bhagavato cetasā cetoparivitakkamaññāya etadahosi:\n“nassati vata bho loko, vinassati vata bho loko, yatra hi nāma tathāgatassa arahato sammāsambuddhassa appossukkatāya cittaṁ namati, no dhammadesanāyā”ti.\nAtha kho brahmā sahampati—seyyathāpi nāma balavā puriso samiñjitaṁ vā bāhaṁ pasāreyya, pasāritaṁ vā bāhaṁ samiñjeyya; evameva—brahmaloke antarahito bhagavato purato pāturahosi.\nAtha kho brahmā sahampati ekaṁsaṁ uttarāsaṅgaṁ karitvā dakkhiṇajāṇumaṇḍalaṁ pathaviyaṁ nihantvā yena bhagavā tenañjaliṁ paṇāmetvā bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:\n“desetu, bhante, bhagavā dhammaṁ, desetu sugato dhammaṁ.\nSanti sattā apparajakkhajātikā, assavanatā dhammassa parihāyanti.\nBhavissanti dhammassa aññātāro”ti.\nIdamavoca brahmā sahampati, idaṁ vatvā athāparaṁ etadavoca:","en":"Then, knowing the Buddha’s train of thought, it occurred to the divinity Sahampati,\n“Oh lord! The world will be lost, the world will perish! For the mind of the Realized One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, inclines to remaining passive, not to teaching the Dhamma.”\nThen, as easily as a strong person would extend or contract their arm, he vanished from the realm of divinity and reappeared in front of the Buddha.\nHe arranged his robe over one shoulder, knelt on his right knee, raised his joined palms toward the Buddha, and said:\n“Sir, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma! Let the Holy One teach the Dhamma!\nThere are beings with little dust in their eyes. They’re in decline because they haven’t heard the teaching.\nThere will be those who understand the teaching!”\nThat is what the divinity Sahampati said. Then he went on to say:"}},{"id":"sn6.1:6","sourceIds":["sn6.1:6.1","sn6.1:6.2","sn6.1:6.3","sn6.1:6.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"“Pāturahosi magadhesu pubbe,\nDhammo asuddho samalehi cintito;\nApāpuretaṁ amatassa dvāraṁ,\nSuṇantu dhammaṁ vimalenānubuddhaṁ.","en":"“Among the Magadhans there appeared in the past\nan impure teaching thought up by the stained.\nFling open the door to freedom from death!\nLet them hear the teaching the immaculate one discovered."}},{"id":"sn6.1:7","sourceIds":["sn6.1:7.1","sn6.1:7.2","sn6.1:7.3","sn6.1:7.4","sn6.1:7.5","sn6.1:7.6"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Sele yathā pabbatamuddhaniṭṭhito,\nYathāpi passe janataṁ samantato;\nTathūpamaṁ dhammamayaṁ sumedha,\nPāsādamāruyha samantacakkhu;\nSokāvatiṇṇaṁ janatamapetasoko,\nAvekkhassu jātijarābhibhūtaṁ.","en":"Standing high on a rocky mountain,\nyou can see the people all around.\nIn just the same way, All-seer, so intelligent,\nhaving ascended the Temple of Truth,\nrid of sorrow, look upon the people\nswamped with sorrow,  overcome by rebirth and old age."}},{"id":"sn6.1:8","sourceIds":["sn6.1:8.1","sn6.1:8.2","sn6.1:8.3","sn6.1:8.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Uṭṭhehi vīra vijitasaṅgāma,\nSatthavāha anaṇa vicara loke;\nDesassu bhagavā dhammaṁ,\nAññātāro bhavissantī”ti.","en":"Rise, hero! Victor in battle, caravan leader,\nwander the world free of debt.\nLet the Blessed One teach the Dhamma!\nThere will be those who understand!”"}},{"id":"sn6.1:9","sourceIds":["sn6.1:9.1","sn6.1:9.2","sn6.1:9.3","sn6.1:9.4","sn6.1:9.5"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Atha kho bhagavā brahmuno ca ajjhesanaṁ viditvā sattesu ca kāruññataṁ paṭicca buddhacakkhunā lokaṁ volokesi.\nAddasā kho bhagavā buddhacakkhunā lokaṁ volokento satte apparajakkhe mahārajakkhe tikkhindriye mudindriye svākāre dvākāre suviññāpaye duviññāpaye, appekacce paralokavajjabhayadassāvine viharante, appekacce na paralokavajjabhayadassāvine viharante.\nSeyyathāpi nāma uppaliniyaṁ vā paduminiyaṁ vā puṇḍarīkiniyaṁ vā appekaccāni uppalāni vā padumāni vā puṇḍarīkāni vā udake jātāni udake saṁvaḍḍhāni udakānuggatāni anto nimuggaposīni, appekaccāni uppalāni vā padumāni vā puṇḍarīkāni vā udake jātāni udake saṁvaḍḍhāni samodakaṁ ṭhitāni, appekaccāni uppalāni vā padumāni vā puṇḍarīkāni vā udake jātāni udake saṁvaḍḍhāni udakā accuggamma ṭhitāni anupalittāni udakena;\nevameva bhagavā buddhacakkhunā lokaṁ volokento addasa satte apparajakkhe mahārajakkhe tikkhindriye mudindriye svākāre dvākāre suviññāpaye duviññāpaye, appekacce paralokavajjabhayadassāvine viharante, appekacce na paralokavajjabhayadassāvine viharante.\nDisvāna brahmānaṁ sahampatiṁ gāthāya paccabhāsi:","en":"Then the Buddha, understanding the Divinity’s invitation, surveyed the world with the eye of a Buddha, out of his compassion for sentient beings.\nAnd the Buddha saw sentient beings with little dust in their eyes, and some with much dust in their eyes; with keen faculties and with weak faculties, with good qualities and with bad qualities, easy to teach and hard to teach. And some of them lived seeing the danger in the fault to do with the next world, while others did not.\nIt’s like a pool with blue water lilies, or pink or white lotuses. Some of them sprout and grow in the water without rising above it, thriving underwater. Some of them sprout and grow in the water reaching the water’s surface. And some of them sprout and grow in the water but rise up above the water and stand with no water clinging to them.\nIn the same way, the Buddha saw sentient beings with little dust in their eyes, and some with much dust in their eyes; with keen faculties and with weak faculties, with good qualities and with bad qualities, easy to teach and hard to teach. And some of them lived seeing the danger in the fault to do with the next world, while others did not.\nWhen he had seen this he replied in verse to the divinity Sahampati:"}},{"id":"sn6.1:10","sourceIds":["sn6.1:10.1","sn6.1:10.2","sn6.1:10.3","sn6.1:10.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"“Apārutā tesaṁ amatassa dvārā,\nYe sotavanto pamuñcantu saddhaṁ;\nVihiṁsasaññī paguṇaṁ na bhāsiṁ,\nDhammaṁ paṇītaṁ manujesu brahme”ti.","en":"“Flung open are the doors to freedom from death!\nLet those with ears to hear commit to faith.\nThinking it would be troublesome, Divinity, I did not teach\nthe sophisticated, sublime Dhamma among mankind.”"}},{"id":"sn6.1:11","sourceIds":["sn6.1:11.1"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Atha kho brahmā sahampati “katāvakāso khomhi bhagavatā dhammadesanāyā”ti bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā padakkhiṇaṁ katvā tatthevantaradhāyīti.","en":"Then the divinity Sahampati, knowing that his request for the Buddha to teach the Dhamma had been granted, bowed and respectfully circled the Buddha, keeping him on his right, before vanishing right there."}}]}],"sourceRevision":"afdafa92450cfe7573b280da50382888323666d2","sourceUrl":"https://suttacentral.net/sn6.1/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."}