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5:7 Nanda’s Questions
There are in the world
sages, they say
—in what way?
Do they call one a sage
for possessing knowledge
or possessing a way of life?
The Buddha:
Not on account of his views,
learning,
or knowledge
do the skilled here, Nanda,
call one a sage.
Those who live
disarmed,
undesiring,
untroubled:
Those, I say, are called sages.
Nanda:
Whatever brahmans & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of habits & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
Have they, dear sir, living there in that way,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.
The Buddha:
Whatever brahmans & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of habits & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
None of them, living there in that way,
I tell you, have crossed over birth & aging.
Nanda:
Whatever brahmans & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of habits & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
If, sage, as you say,
they’ve not crossed over the flood,
then who in the world
of beings divine & human, dear sir,
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.
The Buddha:
I don’t say that all brahmans & contemplatives
are shrouded in birth & aging.
Those here who’ve abandoned
what’s seen, heard, & sensed,
habits & practices1
—all—
who’ve abandoned their manifold ways
—again, all—
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
They are the ones, I tell you,
who’ve crossed over the flood.
Nanda:
I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer’s words
well-expounded, without acquisition.
Those here who’ve abandoned
what’s seen, heard, & sensed,
habits & practices
—all—
who’ve abandoned their manifold ways
—again, all—
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
I, too, say they’ve crossed over the flood.
vv. 1077–1083
Note
1. For a discussion of the abandoning of habits and practices, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, chapters 3 and 4, and The Paradox of Becoming, chapter 4.