Snp. 5.12 — Jatukaṇṇimāṇavapucchā

Snp. 5.12

Jatukaṇṇimāṇavapucchā

Sutta

“Questions of the Brahmin

Jatukaṇṇī”

1096. Then, the brahmin Jatukaṇṇī approached and asked The Blessed One:

“O! All-Seeing Sage, having heard about the Hero who has uprooted from His heart the passion for sensuality, I now come asking The Blessed One, who has gone beyond the flood, if He could please describe to me, the true state of peace.

1097. “For having transcended sense pleasures, The Blessed One conducts Himself much like the resplendent Sun; while remaining untouched, it shines with its brilliance onto the earth, exposing all the dark spots on it. Kindly teach me the Dhamma, O! Great Teacher, I who have little wisdom, so that I may understand the way to get rid of aging and death.”

1098. And The Blessed One said:

“Discipline yourself by getting rid of greed for sense pleasures, Jatukaṇṇī, and by renouncing and giving it all up, you will experience the true meaning of security. Thus, you will stop from running towards this, and away from that.

1099. “Let whatever came before, just dry up and wither away, but don’t replace it with something else. By keeping or grasping nothing, you will attend only to the middle, and in just this way, you will live at peace and fully appeased.

1100. “And when the Brahmin lives thus, free from greed and wanting towards all things belonging to the realm of name and form, he will then most certainly remove all the contaminants from his heart, and be forever released from the grip of Death.”

368 [printed page number]