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Udana » Context of this sutta
- Udana IV.5
- Naga Sutta
- The Bull Elephant
- Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland
For free distribution only,
by arrangement with the Buddhist Publication Society
Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying near Kosambi
at the Ghosita monastery. At that time the Lord was living hemmed in by bhikkhus and
bhikkhunis, by male and female lay followers, by kings and royal ministers, by sectarian
teachers and their disciples, and he lived in discomfort and not at ease. Then the Lord
thought: "At present I am living hemmed in by bhikkhus and bhikkhunis ... by
sectarian teachers and their disciples, and I live in discomfort and not at ease. Suppose
I were to live alone, secluded from the crowd?"
Then the Lord, having put on his robe in the forenoon and taken his bowl and outer
cloak, entered Kosambi for almsfood. Having walked for almsfood in Kosambi and returned
after the meal, he set his lodging in order by himself, took his bowl and cloak, and
without informing his attendant or taking leave of the Order of bhikkhus, he set off
alone, without a companion, for Parileyyaka. Walking on tour by stages,
he arrived at Parileyyaka and stayed near Parileyyaka in a protected forest at the foot of
an auspicious sal-tree.
Now a certain bull elephant was living hemmed in by elephants and she-elephants, by
elephant calves and sucklings; he ate grass with the tips pulled off and they ate the
branches he had broken down. He drank muddied water and on going down and coming out of
the water he was jostled by she-elephants; and he lived in discomfort and not at ease.
Then that bull elephant thought: "At present I am living hemmed in by elephants and
she-elephants, by elephant calves and sucklings; I eat grass with the tips pulled off and
they eat the branches which I break down. I drink muddied water and on going down and
coming out of the water I am jostled by she-elephants; and I live in discomfort and not at
ease. Suppose I were to live alone, secluded from the crowd?"
So that bull elephant left the herd and went to Parileyyaka, to the protected forest,
and approached the Lord at the foot of the auspicious sal-tree. On reaching the place
where the Lord was staying that bull elephant kept the place free of grass and brought
water with his trunk for the Lord's use.
Then, while the Lord was in solitude and seclusion, this thought arose in his mind:
"Formerly I was living hemmed in by bhikkhus and bhikkhunis ... and I was living in
discomfort and not at ease. But now I live not hemmed in by bhikkhus and bhikkhunis ... in
comfort and at ease." And also this thought arose in that bull elephant's mind:
"Formerly I was living hemmed in by elephants and she-elephants ... and I was living
in discomfort and not at ease, but now I live not hemmed in by elephants and she-elephants
... I eat unbroken grass and (others) do not eat the branches which I break down. I drink
clear water and on going down and coming out of the water I am not jostled by
she-elephants, and I live in comfort and at ease."
Then the Lord, on observing his own solitude, understood with his mind the thought in
the mind of that bull elephant, and uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance:
This unites mind with mind,
The perfected one and the bull elephant
With tusks as long as chariot-poles:
That each delights in being alone in the forest.