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Anguttara Nikaya

# AN 5.49 Kosala Sutta (In Kosala) or (The Removal of the Arrow of Grief) AN 5.49

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    [page 1]
    AN 5.49

    Kosala Sutta
    “In Kosala”

    (“The Removal of the Arrow of Grief”)

    Translated by Bhikkhu Candana

    Copyright © Bhikkhu Candana 2022

    At one time, The Blessed One was living at the monastery offered by Anāthapindika in
    Jeta’s Park, in the city of Sāvatthi. Then, King Pasenadi of Kosala approached The Blessed One,
    and after paying his respects at the feet of The Teacher, he sat to one side.
    This was the very day, that Queen Mallika had just passed away. Then, someone from the court
    came rushing in as he approached King Pasenadi of Kosala, and whispered to his ear:
    “O, Great King! Queen Mallika…has died!”
    On hearing this, King Pasenadi suddenly became overwhelmed with sadness; stricken with grief,
    his head drooped and became distraught, as he sat speechless with slumped shoulders.
    The Blessed One, seeing and understanding the situation, and the sudden grief overtaking King
    Pasenadi of Kosala, said this to him:
    “Great King, there are these five things that are impossible to obtain by anyone in the world,
    whether one is a recluse, a brahmin, a Deva, Māra or even Brahmā. What are these five?
    a. “That someone who is subject to old age may become the exception by not growing old, this is
    impossible to obtain by anyone in the world, whether one is a recluse, a brahmin, a Deva, Māra
    or even Brahmā.
    b. “That someone who is subject to illness may become the exception by not getting sick, this is
    impossible to obtain by anyone in the world, whether one is a recluse, a brahmin, a Deva, Māra
    or even Brahmā.
    c. “That someone who is subject to death may become the exception by not dying, this is
    impossible to obtain by anyone in the world, whether one is a recluse, a brahmin, a Deva, Māra
    or even Brahmā.
    d. “That someone who is subject to destruction may become the exception by not being
    destroyed, this is impossible to obtain by anyone in the world, whether one is a recluse, a
    brahmin, a Deva, Māra or even Brahmā.

    [page 2]
    e. “That someone who is subject to fading away into oblivion may become the exception by not
    fading away, this is impossible to obtain by anyone in the world, whether one is a recluse, a
    brahmin, a Deva, Māra or even Brahmā.

    1a. “Here, Great King, the unlearned ordinary person, while experiencing old age, does not
    reflect:
    ‘Old age is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later experience it;
    everyone who has come and gone, has grown old, died, and was reborn.’
    “Instead, he feels himself to be singled out as he faces old age, and as a result, starts considering:
    ‘Now, I sit here grieving, as I worry, lament, and beat my chest and become confused on seeing
    myself getting old, then, as a result, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become emaciated
    and ugly to behold. In such a condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my enemies
    will rejoice on seeing me in that state, while my loved ones will increasingly become worried and
    sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of old age, he worries, laments, beating his chest, and becomes
    confused.
    “Great King, this is the case of an unlearned ordinary person being shot with the poisoned arrow
    of grief, where he burns in his own anguish, by himself.

    1b. “Further, Great King, the unlearned ordinary person, while experiencing illness, does not
    reflect:
    ‘Getting sick is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later experience
    it; everyone who has come and gone, has gotten sick, grown old, died, and was reborn.’
    “Instead, he feels himself to be singled out as he gets sick, and as a result, starts considering:
    ‘Now, I sit here grieving, as I worry, lament, and beat my chest and become confused on seeing
    myself getting sick, then, as a result, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become emaciated
    and ugly to behold. In such a condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my enemies
    will rejoice on seeing me in that state, while my loved ones will increasingly become worried and
    sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of illness, he worries, laments, beating his chest, and becomes
    confused. Great King, this is the case of an unlearned ordinary person being shot with the
    poisoned arrow of grief, where he burns in his own anguish, by himself.

    [page 3]
    1c. “Further, Great King, the unlearned ordinary person, while experiencing death, does not
    reflect:
    ‘Dying is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later experience it;
    everyone who has come and gone, has grown old, died, and was reborn.’
    “Instead, he feels himself to be singled out as he is nearing death, and as a result, starts
    considering:
    ‘Now, I sit here grieving, as I worry, lament, and beat my chest and become confused on seeing
    myself dying, then, as a result, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become emaciated and
    ugly to behold. In such a condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my enemies will
    rejoice on seeing me in that state, while my loved ones will increasingly become worried and
    sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of death, he worries, laments, beating his chest, and becomes
    confused. Great King, this is the case of an unlearned ordinary person being shot with the
    poisoned arrow of grief, where he burns in his own anguish, by himself.

    1d. “Further, Great King, the unlearned ordinary person, while experiencing destruction, does
    not reflect:
    ‘Being destroyed is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later
    experience it; everyone who has come and gone, has grown old, died, been destroyed, and was
    reborn.’
    “Instead, he feels himself to be singled out as he faces destruction, and as a result, starts
    considering:
    ‘Now, I sit here grieving, as I worry, lament, and beat my chest and become confused on seeing
    myself about to be destroyed, then, as a result, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become
    emaciated and ugly to behold. In such a condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my
    enemies will rejoice on seeing me in that state, while my loved ones will increasingly become
    worried and sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of destruction, he worries, laments, beating his chest, and
    becomes confused. Great King, this is the case of an unlearned ordinary person being shot with
    the poisoned arrow of grief, where he burns in his own anguish, by himself.

    [page 4]
    1e. “Further, Great King, the unlearned ordinary person, while experiencing fading away, does
    not reflect:
    ‘Fading away into oblivion is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or
    later experience it; everyone who has come and gone, has grown old, died, faded away into
    oblivion, and was reborn.’
    “Instead, he feels himself to be singled out as he is faces fading away, and as a result, starts
    considering:
    ‘Now, I sit here grieving, as I worry, lament, and beat my chest and become confused on seeing
    myself about to fade away into oblivion, then, as a result, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I
    will become emaciated and ugly to behold. In such a condition, I won’t even be able to do much
    work, and my enemies will rejoice on seeing me in that state, while my loved ones will
    increasingly become worried and sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of fading away, he worries, laments, beating his chest, and
    becomes confused. Great King, this is the case of an unlearned ordinary person being shot with
    the poisoned arrow of grief, where he burns in his own anguish, by himself.

    2a. “Meanwhile, Great King, the learned Noble Disciple, while experiencing old age, reflects
    thus:
    ‘Old age is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later experience it;
    everyone who has come and gone, has grown old, died, and was reborn.”
    “And by not feeling himself to be singled out as he faces old age, he starts considering:
    ‘Now, if I grieve, worry, lament, beat my chest and become confused on seeing myself getting
    old, then, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become emaciated and ugly to behold. In such
    a condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my enemies will rejoice seeing me in that
    state, while my loved ones will become worried and sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of old age, he neither worries nor laments; he does not beat his
    chest nor becomes confused. Great King, this is the case of a learned Noble Disciple who has
    pulled out the poisoned arrow of grief with which the unlearned ordinary person torments
    himself. By remaining sorrowless, unagitated, and without any arrows, in this way, the learned
    Noble Disciple attains Nibbāna.

    2b. “Further, Great King, the learned Noble Disciple, while experiencing illness, reflects thus:

    [page 5]
    ‘Getting sick is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later experience
    it; everyone who has come and gone, has gotten sick, grown old, died, and was reborn.’
    “And by not feeling himself to be singled out as he faces illness, he starts considering:
    ‘Now, if I grieve, worry, lament, beat my chest and become confused on seeing myself getting
    sick, then, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become emaciated and ugly to behold. In
    such a condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my enemies will rejoice seeing me
    in that state, while my loved ones will become worried and sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of illness, he neither worries nor laments; he does not beat his
    chest nor becomes confused. Great King, this is the case of a learned Noble Disciple who has
    pulled out the poisoned arrow of illness with which the unlearned ordinary person torments
    himself. By remaining sorrowless, unagitated, and without any arrows, in this way, the learned
    Noble Disciple attains Nibbāna.

    2c. “Further, Great King, the learned Noble Disciple, while experiencing death, reflects thus:
    ‘Dying is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later experience it;
    everyone who has come and gone, has grown old, died, and was reborn.’
    “And by not feeling himself to be singled out as he faces death, he starts considering:
    ‘Now, if I grieve, worry, lament, beat my chest and become confused on seeing myself dying,
    then, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become emaciated and ugly to behold. In such a
    condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my enemies will rejoice seeing me in that
    state, while my loved ones will become worried and sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of death, he neither worries nor laments; he does not beat his
    chest nor becomes confused. Great King, this is the case of a learned Noble Disciple who has
    pulled out the poisoned arrow of death with which the unlearned ordinary person torments
    himself. By remaining sorrowless, unagitated, and without any arrows, in this way, the learned
    Noble Disciple attains Nibbāna.

    2d. “Further, Great King, the learned Noble Disciple, while experiencing destruction, reflects
    thus:
    ‘Being destroyed is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later
    experience it; everyone who has come and gone, has grown old, died, been destroyed, and was
    reborn.’
    “And by not feeling himself to be singled out as he faces destruction, he starts considering:

    [page 6]
    ‘Now, if I grieve, worry, lament, beat my chest and become confused on seeing myself about to
    be destroyed, then, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become emaciated and ugly to
    behold. In such a condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my enemies will rejoice
    seeing me in that state, while my loved ones will become worried and sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of destruction, he neither worries nor laments; he does not beat his
    chest nor becomes confused. Great King, this is the case of a learned Noble Disciple who has
    pulled out the poisoned arrow of destruction with which the unlearned ordinary person torments
    himself. By remaining sorrowless, unagitated, and without any arrows, in this way, the learned
    Noble Disciple attains Nibbāna.
    2e. “Further, Great King, the learned Noble Disciple, while experiencing fading away, reflects
    thus:
    ‘Fading away is not just unique to me, it is common to all beings who sooner or later experience
    it; everyone who has come and gone, has grown old, died, faded away into oblivion, and was
    reborn.’
    “And by not feeling himself to be singled out as he faces fading away, he starts considering:
    ‘Now, if I grieve, worry, lament, beat my chest and become confused on seeing myself about to
    fade away into oblivion, then, I won’t even be able to enjoy food, I will become emaciated and
    ugly to behold. In such a condition, I won’t even be able to do much work, and my enemies will
    rejoice seeing me in that state, while my loved ones will become worried and sad.’
    “Thus, when facing the reality of fading away, he neither worries nor laments; he does not beat
    his chest nor becomes confused. Great King, this is the case of a learned Noble Disciple who has
    pulled out the poisoned arrow of fading away with which the unlearned ordinary person torments
    himself. By remaining sorrowless, unagitated, and without any arrows, in this way, the learned
    Noble Disciple attains Nibbāna.
    “Therefore, Great King, these are the five things that are impossible to obtain by anyone in the
    world, whether one is a recluse, a brahmin, a Deva, Māra or even Brahmā.

    ‘Grieving and lamenting never bore any fruits, as they are of no use,
    Except for causing one’s own enemies become pleased in seeing it take place.

    But, for those who are wise, seeing things as they really are,
    They stand sorrowless and unagitated in the face of adversities.

    As they look for what is useful and helpful, given their situation,
    Which only cause disarray for their enemies, who become confused and sad
    Seeing the unassailable expression of their face, unfazed.

    [page 7]
    By thinking and reciting the good words handed down,
    Whatever method one uses, whether chanting, reciting, or making offerings,
    If it is useful, then keep it up, exerting yourself in that way.

    But, when facing a situation where what you wish for is impossible to obtain,
    Then endure it, without grieving, as you continue doing meritorious deeds,
    Keeping your precepts and purifying the heart,
    For there is nothing else you can do.’

    Sādhu

    Sādhu

    Sādhu

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