At Vesālī

Vesālīsutta

At Vesālī

Vesālīsutta

EN
So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Now at that time the Buddha spoke in many ways to the mendicants about the meditation on ugliness. He praised the meditation on ugliness and its development. Then the Buddha said to the mendicants,
PL
Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā vesāliyaṁ viharati mahāvane kūṭāgārasālāyaṁ. Tena kho pana samayena bhagavā bhikkhūnaṁ anekapariyāyena asubhakathaṁ katheti, asubhāya vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati, asubhabhāvanāya vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati. Atha kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:
EN
“Mendicants, I wish to go on retreat for a fortnight. No-one should approach me, except the one who brings my almsfood.” “Yes, sir,” replied those mendicants. And no-one approached him, except the one who brought the almsfood. Then those mendicants thought,
PL
“icchāmahaṁ, bhikkhave, aḍḍhamāsaṁ paṭisallīyituṁ. Nāmhi kenaci upasaṅkamitabbo, aññatra ekena piṇḍapātanīhārakenā”ti. “Evaṁ, bhante”ti kho te bhikkhū bhagavato paṭissutvā nāssudha koci bhagavantaṁ upasaṅkamati, aññatra ekena piṇḍapātanīhārakena. Atha kho te bhikkhū:
EN
“The Buddha spoke in many ways about the meditation on ugliness. He praised the meditation on ugliness and its development.” They committed themselves to developing the many different facets of the meditation on ugliness. Becoming horrified, repelled, and disgusted with this body, they looked for a suicide weapon. Each day ten, twenty, or thirty mendicants committed suicide.
PL
“bhagavā anekapariyāyena asubhakathaṁ katheti, asubhāya vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati, asubhabhāvanāya vaṇṇaṁ bhāsatī”ti anekākāravokāraṁ asubhabhāvanānuyogamanuyuttā viharanti. Te iminā kāyena aṭṭīyamānā harāyamānā jigucchamānā satthahārakaṁ pariyesanti. Dasapi bhikkhū ekāhena satthaṁ āharanti, vīsampi …pe… tiṁsampi bhikkhū ekāhena satthaṁ āharanti.
EN
Then after a fortnight had passed, the Buddha came out of retreat and addressed Ānanda, “Ānanda, why does the mendicant Saṅgha seem so diminished?” Ānanda told the Buddha all that had happened, and said,
PL
Atha kho bhagavā tassa aḍḍhamāsassa accayena paṭisallānā vuṭṭhito āyasmantaṁ ānandaṁ āmantesi: “kiṁ nu kho, ānanda, tanubhūto viya bhikkhusaṅgho”ti? “Tathā hi pana, bhante, ‘bhagavā bhikkhūnaṁ anekapariyāyena asubhakathaṁ katheti, asubhāya vaṇṇaṁ bhāsati, asubhabhāvanāya vaṇṇaṁ bhāsatī’ti anekākāravokāraṁ asubhabhāvanānuyogamanuyuttā viharanti.
EN
“Sir, please explain another way the mendicant Saṅgha might be settled in enlightenment.” “Well then, Ānanda, gather all the mendicants staying in the vicinity of Vesālī together in the assembly hall.”
PL
Te iminā kāyena aṭṭīyamānā harāyamānā jigucchamānā satthahārakaṁ pariyesanti. Dasapi bhikkhū ekāhena satthaṁ āharanti, vīsampi bhikkhū … tiṁsampi bhikkhū ekāhena satthaṁ āharanti. Sādhu, bhante, bhagavā aññaṁ pariyāyaṁ ācikkhatu yathāyaṁ bhikkhusaṅgho aññāya saṇṭhaheyyā”ti. “Tenahānanda, yāvatikā bhikkhū vesāliṁ upanissāya viharanti te sabbe upaṭṭhānasālāyaṁ sannipātehī”ti.
EN
“Yes, sir,” replied Ānanda. He did what the Buddha asked, went up to him, and said, “Sir, the mendicant Saṅgha has assembled. Please, sir, come at your convenience.”
PL
“Evaṁ, bhante”ti kho āyasmā ānando bhagavato paṭissutvā yāvatikā bhikkhū vesāliṁ upanissāya viharanti te sabbe upaṭṭhānasālāyaṁ sannipātetvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “sannipatito, bhante, bhikkhusaṅgho. Yassadāni, bhante, bhagavā kālaṁ maññatī”ti.
EN
Then the Buddha went to the assembly hall, sat down on the seat spread out, and addressed the mendicants: “Mendicants, when this immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated it’s peaceful and sublime, a delectable and blissful meditation. And it disperses and settles unskillful qualities on the spot whenever they arise.
PL
Atha kho bhagavā yena upaṭṭhānasālā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā paññatte āsane nisīdi. Nisajja kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: “ayampi kho, bhikkhave, ānāpānassatisamādhi bhāvito bahulīkato santo ceva paṇīto ca asecanako ca sukho ca vihāro uppannuppanne ca pāpake akusale dhamme ṭhānaso antaradhāpeti vūpasameti.
EN
In the last month of summer, when the dust and dirt is stirred up, a large storm out of season disperses and settles it on the spot. In the same way, when this immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated it’s peaceful and sublime, a delectable and blissful meditation. And it disperses and settles unskillful qualities on the spot whenever they arise.
PL
Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, gimhānaṁ pacchime māse ūhataṁ rajojallaṁ, tamenaṁ mahāakālamegho ṭhānaso antaradhāpeti vūpasameti; evameva kho, bhikkhave, ānāpānassatisamādhi bhāvito bahulīkato santo ceva paṇīto ca asecanako ca sukho ca vihāro uppannuppanne ca pāpake akusale dhamme ṭhānaso antaradhāpeti vūpasameti.
EN
And how is it so developed and cultivated? It’s when a mendicant—gone to a wilderness, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut—sits down cross-legged, sets their body straight, and brings mindfulness to the present.
PL
Kathaṁ bhāvito ca, bhikkhave, ānāpānassatisamādhi kathaṁ bahulīkato santo ceva paṇīto ca asecanako ca sukho ca vihāro uppannuppanne ca pāpake akusale dhamme ṭhānaso antaradhāpeti vūpasameti? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā nisīdati pallaṅkaṁ ābhujitvā ujuṁ kāyaṁ paṇidhāya parimukhaṁ satiṁ upaṭṭhapetvā.
EN
Just mindful, they breathe in. Mindful, they breathe out. … They practice like this: ‘I’ll breathe in observing letting go.’ They practice like this: ‘I’ll breathe out observing letting go.’ That’s how this immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated so that it’s peaceful and sublime, a delectable and blissful meditation. And it disperses and settles unskillful qualities on the spot whenever they arise.”
PL
So satova assasati, satova passasati …pe… ‘paṭinissaggānupassī assasissāmī’ti sikkhati, ‘paṭinissaggānupassī passasissāmī’ti sikkhati. Evaṁ bhāvito kho, bhikkhave, ānāpānassatisamādhi evaṁ bahulīkato santo ceva paṇīto ca asecanako ca sukho ca vihāro uppannuppanne ca pāpake akusale dhamme ṭhānaso antaradhāpeti vūpasametī”ti.
PL
Navamaṁ.

Pāli root text and English translation by Bhikkhu Sujato from SuttaCentral (https://suttacentral.net), CC0.

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