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- Anguttara Nikaya III.39
- Sukhamala Sutta
- Refinement
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
Translator's note: The Pali Text Society editions treat this discourse as two
discourses -- III.38 & III.39 -- divided at the triple asterisk.
Asian editions treat it as one, numbered III.39. The autobiographical verse at the end of
the second half -- which is identical with the verse concluding AN
V.57 -- fits neatly with the autobiographical first half of the discourse, suggesting
that the two halves were meant to go together.
"Monks, I lived in refinement, utmost refinement, total refinement. My father even
had lotus ponds made in our palace: one where red-lotuses bloomed, one where white lotuses
bloomed, one where blue lotuses bloomed, all for my sake. I used no sandalwood that was
not from Varanasi. My turban was from Varanasi, as were my tunic, my lower garments, &
my outer cloak. A white sunshade was held over me day & night to protect me from cold,
heat, dust, dirt, & dew.
"I had three palaces: one for the cold season, one for the
hot season, one for the rainy season. During the four months of the rainy season I was
entertained in the rainy-season palace by minstrels without a single man among them, and I
did not once come down from the palace. Whereas the servants, workers, & retainers in
other people's homes are fed meals of lentil soup & broken rice, in my father's home
the servants, workers, & retainers were fed wheat, rice, and meat.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought
occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not
beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted,
oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I -- who am
subject to aging, not beyond aging -- were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on
seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this,
the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought
occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to illness, not
beyond illness, sees another who is ill, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted,
oblivious to himself that he too is subject to illness, not beyond illness. And if I --
who am subject to illness, not beyond illness -- were to be horrified, humiliated, &
disgusted on seeing another person who is ill, that would not be fitting for me.' As I
noticed this, the healthy person's intoxication with health entirely dropped away.
"Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought
occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to death, not
beyond death, sees another who is dead, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted,
oblivious to himself that he too is subject to death, not beyond death. And if I -- who am
subject to death, not beyond death -- were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on
seeing another person who is dead, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this,
the living person's intoxication with life entirely dropped away.
* * *
"Monks, there are these three forms of intoxication. Which
three? Intoxication with youth, intoxication with health, intoxication with life.
"Drunk with the intoxication of youth, an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person
engages in bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, & mental misconduct. Having engaged
in bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, & mental misconduct, he -- on the break-up of
the body, after death -- reappears in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the
lower realms, in hell.
"Drunk with the intoxication of health, an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person
engages in bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, & mental misconduct. Having engaged
in bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, & mental misconduct, he -- on the break-up of
the body, after death -- reappears in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the
lower realms, in hell.
"Drunk with the intoxication of life, an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person
engages in bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, & mental misconduct. Having engaged
in bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, & mental misconduct, he -- on the break-up of
the body, after death -- reappears in the plane of deprivation, the bad destination, the
lower realms, in hell.
"Drunk with the intoxication of youth, a monk leaves the training and returns to
the lower life. Drunk with the intoxication of health, a monk leaves the training and
returns to the lower life. Drunk with the intoxication of life, a monk leaves the training
and returns to the lower life."
'Subject
to birth, subject to aging,
subject to death,
run-of-the-mill people
are repelled by those who suffer
from that to which they are subject.
And if I were to be repelled
by beings subject to these things,
it would not be fitting for me,
living as they do.'
As I maintained this attitude --
knowing the Dhamma
without acquisitions --
I overcame all intoxication
with health, youth, & life
as one who sees
renunciation as rest.
For me, energy arose,
Unbinding was clearly seen.
There's now no way
I could partake of sensual pleasures.
Having followed the holy life,
I will not return.
See also: Sn IV.15