Tipitaka >> Sutta Pitaka >> Khuddaka Nikaya >> Niddesa >> Niddesa 2.a.5
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5. Dhotaka[]
30 · [Venerable Dhotaka like this:] Blessed One, I ask you, please tell me this, Great rishi! I look forward to your words, After hearing what you said, One should learn for one’s own Nibbāna.
“Master, let me ask you, please tell me this”: “I ask,” … (omitted, see previous sections). “Blessed One” … (omitted, see previous sections).
“[Venerable Dhotaka like this]”: “Like this,” …(omitted, see previous sections). “Dhotaka,” the Brāhmaṇa’s name …(omitted, see previous sections).
“Great rishi! I look forward to your words”: Your words, ways of speaking, teaching, teaching, admonition, I expect, I hope, I pray. “Great rishi,” …(omitted, see previous sections).
“After hearing your words”: Your speech, language, teachings admonitions; after hearing, after grasping, after understanding, after discriminating.
“You should learn for your own Nibbāna”: There are three kinds of learning: …(omitted, see previous sections). “For your own Nibbāna,” to extinguish your own greed, …anger, ..ignorance, …(omitted); to calm, silence, extinguish, cut off, and cease all unwholesome practices, you should learn to increase precepts, you learn to increase mind, and you should learn to increase wisdom. These three learnings should be studied when directed towards (noting); when known they should be learned; when seen… (omitted); when introspecting…; and being careful to establish (a decision), you should learn; you should learn when you win by faith; you should learn when you have energetic effort; you should learn when mindfulness arises; you should learn with mindfulness; you should learn when you know with wisdom; we should learn when we can testify; we should learn when we can know; we should learn when we should be renounced; we should learn when we should be practiced as testimony; [Ps.1,41] learning should be practiced, should be carried out well, one should go on after accepting.
31 · [Blessed One: “Dhotaka!”] If that is the case, please be enthusiastic, And wise and mindful here, After hearing these words, You should learn for your own Nibbāna.
“If that’s the case, please be enthusiastic”: Please be enthusiastic, please be brave, please be zealous, please have fortitude, please be firm, please be vigorous; and may you make it happen, make it arise, make it fully produced, make it appear, make it live.
“Dhotaka,” …. “Blessed One,” ….
“Wise and mindful here”: “Here,” belonging to this view, to this liking, to this inclination, in this attachment, in this Dhamma; in this teaching; in this Brahma, in the teachings of this master, in this individual, in this human world. “Wise,” the concious, the enlightened, the discriminating, the wise. “Mindful,” Mindful in four ways: …(omitted, see previous sections).
“After hearing these words”: ….
“You should learn for your own Nibbāna”: ….
32 · (Dhotaka:) I see a Brāhmaṇa owning nothing In the world of heaven and the world of men, I salute you, all-seeing one, Sakyamuni! Please free me from doubts.
“I see, in heaven and the world of men”: “Heaven,” there are three kinds of heaven: general (secular, worldly) heaven, rebirth heaven, and pure heaven. What is secular heaven? Kings and princes and queens are called secular heavens. What is the rebirth heaven? The four great god kings, the realm of the thirty-three gods, Tusita heaven, fashioned heaven, all Brahma heavens, and all the heavens above that are called rebirth heavens. What is pure heaven? The troubles of the disciples of the Tathāgata, Arahants, and Paccekabuddhas, have been exhausted, this is called pure heavens. The Blessed One is of the general heaven, the rebirth heaven, the pure heaven, and the victorious heaven, the heaven among the heaven, the lion among the lions, the dragon among the dragons, the lord among the lords, the Muni among the Munis, the king among the kings. “I see in the heavens and in the world of man”: In the world of man and the heavens, I see, I see the superior heaven, I see the heaven in the heaven; I see, I watch, I contemplate, I observe.
“Brāhmaṇa actors (doers) without possessions”: “No,” no greed, no hatred, ignorance, sloth, seeing (views), pollution, evil deeds; any of these, for the Blessed One, it has been cut off, and the roots have been cut off, just like a palm tree without roots, becoming non-existent and non-living for the future. Therefore, the Buddha is called the non-owner. “Brāhmaṇa,” the Blessed One is the one in the state of excluding the seven dhammas: seeing is excluded, suspicion is excluded, abstinence.., greed…, aversion, ignorance, sloth, and those evil and unwholesome dhammas are excluded: those that are polluted, there are again. People who are fearful, who suffer the consequences, and will die in the future.
The Blessed One: [Sn.3.6, 524] “After all evil is eliminated, Standing the spotless, virtuous state, After he transcends reincarnation, He becomes a perfect man. Those who are not dependent, Like this can be called Brāhmaṇa.”
“Actor,” walker, doer, dweller, on-goer, guardian, and survivor.
“I respect you, all-seeing one”: “You,” he addressed the Blessed One. “I respect,” I respect with my body, or I respect with words, or I respect with my heart, or I respect in intention, or I follow the Dhamma to show respect, salute. “All-seeing,” all-eyes are called the state of all knowing wisdom. The Blessed One has the state of intelligence, of fully having, entering, fully entering, sufficiently having, having all the knowledge.
“For him, there is nothing unseen here (in this world), There is no knowledge that cannot be known, He proves that everything that exists should be guided by inference, Because the Tathāgata, like that, is all-eyes.” [Ps.1]
“Sakyamuni! Please free me from doubts”: “Sakyamuni,” Sakyamuni is a bhikkhu from the house of Sakya. This is Sakyamuni. Or, “the rich, the wealthy,” this is also Sakyamuni. For him there are these wealth, namely: trusting wealth, abstaining from wealth, ashamed of wealth, hearing about wealth, giving wealth, wisdom wealth, mindfulness of wealth, righteous wealth, divine wealth, root wealth, strength wealth, enlightenment wealth, Path wealth, Fruit wealth, Nibbāna wealth, and use these various treasures as the rich, the wealthy. Or, those who are possible, those who are able, those who flow out all kinds of things, those who are sufficient, those who are heroes, those who are brave, those who are heroic, those who are not timid, those who are not frightened, those who do not run away, those who have given up fear of fear, those who have given up terror and fear. Doubts are called doubts: doubt of suffering, doubt of the path leading to suffering, doubt of the future, doubt of the past, doubt of the future and the past, doubt of causal connections, such doubts, suspicions, doubtful states, confusion, hesitation, crossroads, inconsistent grasping, hesitating, incomplete understanding, stiff state, confusion of mind. “Sakyamuni! Please free me from doubt”: Please free me, please release me, pull me out, please pull me out completely, bring me out of doubt.
33 · (The Blessed One:) I will not be able to liberate, Dhotaka, Anyone who doubts in the world, When you know the best Dhamma, Then you will get through this torrent.
“I will not be able to liberate”: I will not be able to release, free, make liberated, pull out, pull out completely, make to ascend, make to fully ascend, a being struck by the arrow of doubt. Or, I don’t work hard on the unbelievers, on the unwilling, on the slack, on those with inferior vitality, on the inactive; I don’t do my best, I don’t strive, I don’t do with valor, I don’t work with enthusiasm, I don’t make fortitude, I don’t make determination, I don’t make vitality, I don’t make it produce, I don’t make it appear, I don’t make it fully produced, I don’t make it arise, I don’t make it give birth to the teachings of the Dhamma. Or, you don’t have any other liberators. Those who can be liberated use their own fortitude, with their own energy, with their own striving, with their own brave efforts, with their own power, with their own human power, with their own human vitality, with their own work, with their own correct way of doing, following the path, not going the opposite way, the way of following the Dhamma, and the way of doing the Dhamma, they can be freed.
This was said by the Blessed One: “Cunda! ‘I am the one who has fallen into the quagmire and will pull out the other people who have fallen into the quagmire.’ This is impossible. Cunda! ‘I am an unregulated, untrained, non-Nibbāna one. I will make others tune, train, and attain Nibbāna.’ This is impossible.” [MN.8]
This is said by the Blessed One: [Dph.12,165] “He has done evil, he is polluted, He who does do not do evil, he comes pure, Purity and impurity are separate, one cannot make the other pure.”
This was also said by the Blessed One: “Similarly, Brāhmaṇa, Nibbāna stays and abides, the path which leads to Nibbāna stays and abides, and my persuasion (teaching) stays and abides. However, when my disciples are taught and admonished in this way, some of them reach the ultimate end of Nibbāna, and some do not reach. Brāhmaṇa, What can I do here? Brāhmaṇa, The Tathāgata is the guide. [MN.107] The Buddha only told (directed) the way, and when they practice it by themselves, they could be free.”
“Any doubter in the world”: A doubter, a person who has doubts, confusion, and hesitation. “Any (person),” any khattiya, or Brāhmaṇa, or vessa, or sudda, or layman, or bhikkhu, or heaven, or person. “In the world,” in the world of the suffering world… (omitted).
“When knowing the most triumphant Dhamma”: The highest Dhamma is called non-living, Nibbāna, which is the cessation of all actions, the cessation of all attachments, the cessation of craving, greed, extinguishment, and Nibbāna. Supreme, the first, the most victorious, the extraordinary, the highest, the most advanced Dhamma; when knowing, distinguishing, understanding, through.
“This way you will get through this torrent”: Such a torrent of desire, the torrent of seeing, the torrent of ignorance, you can get through, you can surpass, you can you can overcome the torrent.
34 · (Dhotaka:) Brāhmaṇa! I ask, out of compassion, Teach me the Dhamma of seclusion, (So that) as the void is not bound, Here I can walk silently and unrestrained.
“Brāhmaṇa! Please teach the commandment out of compassion”: Brāhmaṇa, please teach the commandment; Brāhmaṇa, please help; Brāhmaṇa, please be merciful. “The compassionate person,” The compassionate, the sympathizer, the protector, the funder, the compassionate.
“The Dhamma of seclusion, that I can know”: Seclusion Dhamma is called non-living, Nibbāna, that is the cessation of all actions, the cessation of all attachments, the extinction of craving, greed, extinction, and Nibbāna. “I can know,” I can know, discern, know for sure, understand, prove, reach, and testify.
“As the void (space) is not bound”: As the void is not stuck, not captured, not bound, not tied to the world, then it is the one who is not stuck, not captured, and not tied, the one who is not all-bound. (Or,) as the emptiness is not dyed with carmine, or golden yellow, or indigo, or deep red, then the one who is not dyed (stained), the one who is not angry, the one who does not change foolishly, and the one who does not pollute. As the void does not get angry, is not abusive, does not resist, and is not attacked, this is the one who is not angry, the one who is not abusive, the one who does not resist, the one who is not attacked, and the one who does not fight back.
“Here I can walk silently and unrestrainedly”: “Here, silently,” when you are here; when you are sitting here; when you are sitting on this seat; when sitting down among the crowd. Or, just here is silent, calm, cooled, stopped. There are two kinds of dependence: the dependence of craving and the dependence of seeing… (omitted). After the dependence of love has been cut off, and the dependence of seeing has been cut off, one becomes non-dependent on the eyes, …the ear…, the nose, tongue, body, mind, forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, dhammas, family, group, residence, gain, reputation, praise, clothes, food, dwelling, (patient’s needs and medical necessities), the desire realm, the formed realm, the formless realm, the desire to be, the desire for the formless, the desire to have, to exist, one aggregate, four aggregates, five aggregates, past, future, present, what you see, hear, feel, and can perceive; those who do not adhere to, those who do not fall into, those who do not turn their minds towards, those who have left, have given up, have been freed, have been separated from the bondage, living with an unrestrained heart. “Can do” can live, can act, can go on, can guard, can survive.
35 · [The Blessed One: “Dhotaka!”] I will tell you about the stillness, Known in (real) life rather than (through) rumor, Anyone who knows it, living mindfully, Can cross over love (desire) in the world.
“I will tell you about the stillness”: The stillness of greed, the stillness of aversion, …(omitted), the stillness of all unwholesome creations; silence, cessation; I will tell, announce, say, explain, teach, interpret, build, uncover, parse, clarify.
“[The Blessed One: ‘Dhotaka’]”: “Dhotaka,” the World Venerable calls the Brāhmaṇa by his name. “Blessed One,” …(omitted).
“In the current life and not from hearsay”: …(omitted, see previous sections).
“Anyone who lives mindfully after knowing”: …(omitted, see previous sections).
“Able to live through love in the world”: …(omitted, see previous sections).
36 · (Dhotaka:) I rejoice at that, great rishi! The highest silence, Anyone who knows which, living mindfully, Can cross through love in the world.
“I rejoice at that”: “That,” your words, language, teaching, teaching, admonition. “I rejoice,” I am happy, I wish, I hope, I pray.
“Great rishi! The supreme silence”: “Great rishi” …(omitted). “The supreme silence,” silence is called non-living, Nibbāna, that is the cessation of all actions, …(omitted).
“Anyone who knows the thought after knowing”: After knowing… (omitted).
“Able to live through the love in the world”: “Love” is called craving… (omitted).
37 · [The Blessed One: “Dhotaka!”] Anything you know rightly, in the upper, lower and middle four directions, After knowing that this is the “tie” in the world, You should not be thirsty for all kinds of existence.
“Anything you know rightly”: Anything you know rightly, what you understand, what you know, what you know for sure. “Dhotaka,” …. “Blessed One,” ….
“In the upper, lower, and middle four directions”: …(omitted).
“After knowing that this is the ‘tie’ in the world”: This is the tie, this is adhesion, this is binding, this is an obstacle. After knowing, after understanding, after weighing, after judging, after separating.
“Don’t thirst in all kinds of existence”: “Thirst for love,” the thirst for form, the thirst for sound… (omitted), the thirst for Dhamma. “In all kinds of existence,” all kinds of existence in kamma, in the middle, in the desire to be exist again; in the desire to have, the physical existence; in the physical existence, the formless existence; in the formless existence, existence again and again; in repeated coming around, rebirth; in rebirth, individual birth. Don’t be thirsty, don’t arouse craving, don’t produce desire, don’t want thirst, don’t give birth to thirst, give up, drive away, cause it to end, make it go to non-existence.
At the end of these verses… “The Blessed One is my teacher, I am a disciple.”