sn.1.34 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

There Are No

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Savatthi in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapiṇḍika’s Park. Then, when the night had advanced, a number of devatās belonging to the Satullapa host, of stunning beauty, illuminating the entire Jeta’s Grove, approached the Blessed One. Having approached, they paid homage to the Blessed One and stood to one side.

Then one devatā, standing to one side, recited this verse in the presence of the Blessed One:

“There are among humans
No permanent sensual pleasures;
Here there are just desirable things.
When a person is bound to these,
Heedless in their midst,
From Death’s realm he does not reach
The state of no-more-coming-back.”

Another devatā:

“Misery is born of desire;
suffering is born of desire.
By the removal of desire,
misery is removed;
by the removal of misery,
suffering is removed.”

The Blessed One:

“They are not sense pleasures, the world’s pretty things:
Man’s sensuality is the intention of lust.
The pretty things remain as they are in the world
But the wise remove the desire for them.

“One should discard anger, cast off conceit,
Transcend all the fetters.
No sufferings torment one who has nothing,
Who does not adhere to name-and-form.

“He abandoned reckoning, did not assume conceit;
He cut off craving here for name-and-form.
Though devas and humans search for him
Here and beyond, in the heavens and all abodes,
They do not find the one whose knots are cut,
The one untroubled, free of longing.”

“If devas and humans have not seen
The one thus liberated here or beyond,”
said the Venerable Mogharaja,
“Are they to be praised who venerate him,
The best of men, faring for the good of humans?”

“Those bhikkhus too become worthy of praise,
Mogharaja,” said the Blessed One,
“Who venerate him, the one thus liberated.
But having known Dhamma and abandoned doubt,
Those bhikkhus become even surmounters of ties.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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There Are None

At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery.
Then, late at night, several glorious deities of the Satullapa Group, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, and stood to one side.
Standing to one side, one deity recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence:
“Among humans there are no sensual pleasures that are permanent.
Here there are sensuous things, bound to which,
drunk on which, there’s no coming back.
That person doesn’t return here from Death’s domain.”
“Misery is born of desire; suffering is born of desire;
when desire is removed, misery is removed;
when misery is removed, suffering is removed.”
“The world’s pretty things aren’t sensual pleasures.
Greedy intention is a person’s sensual pleasure.
The world’s pretty things stay just as they are,
but a wise one removes desire for them.
Give up anger, get rid of conceit,
and get past all the fetters.
Sufferings don’t torment the one who has nothing,
not clinging to name and form.
Judging’s given up, conceit rejected;
craving for name and form is cut off right here.
They’ve cut the ties, untroubled, with no need for hope.
Though gods and humans search for them
in this world and the world beyond, they never find them,
not in heaven nor in any abode.”
“If neither gods nor humans see one freed in this way,”
said Venerable Mogharājā,
“in this world or the world beyond,
are those who revere that supreme person,
who lives for the good of mankind, also worthy of praise?”
“The mendicants who revere one freed in this way,”
said the Buddha,
“are also worthy of praise, Mogharājā.
But having understood the teaching and given up doubt,
those mendicants can escape their chains.”