SN 1.38 - SN 1:38 The Stone Sliver | Sakalika Sutta Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN1_38.html License: CC-BY-NC-4.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA. Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA. Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: SN 4:13; SN 36:6; AN 5:129 Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded. Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed. The Stone Sliver Sakalika Sutta (SN 1:38) Cullavagga VII tells of how Devadatta, the Buddha’s cousin, tried unsuccessfully in various ways to wrest leadership of the Saṅgha from the Buddha. In Cv VII.3.9, he tries to kill the Buddha by hurling a rock down a mountainside. The rock is crushed, and so misses the Buddha, but sends out a splinter that pierces the Buddha’s foot, drawing blood. According to the Commentary, this discourse together with SN 4:13 describe the Buddha’s reaction to this attempt on his life. * * * I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Rājagaha in the Maddakucchi Deer Reserve. Now at that time his foot had been pierced by a stone sliver. Excruciating were the bodily feelings that developed within him—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—but he endured them mindful, alert, & unperturbed. Having had his outer robe folded in four and laid out, he lay down on his right side in the lion’s posture, with one foot placed on top of the other, mindful & alert. Then 700 devatās from the Satullapa retinue, in the far extreme of the night, their extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Maddakucchi, went to the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down to him, they stood to one side. As she was standing there, one of the devatās exclaimed in the Blessed One’s presence: “What a nāga is Gotama the contemplative! And like a nāga, when bodily feelings have arisen—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—he endures them mindful, alert, & unperturbed!” Then another devatā exclaimed in the Blessed One’s presence: “What a lion is Gotama the contemplative! And like a lion, when bodily feelings have arisen—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—he endures them mindful, alert, & unperturbed!” Then another devatā exclaimed in the Blessed One’s presence: “What a thoroughbred is Gotama the contemplative! And like a thoroughbred, when bodily feelings have arisen—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—he endures them mindful, alert, & unperturbed!” Then another devatā exclaimed in the Blessed One’s presence: “What a peerless bull is Gotama the contemplative! And like a peerless bull, when bodily feelings have arisen—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—he endures them mindful, alert, & unperturbed!” Then another devatā exclaimed in the Blessed One’s presence: “What a strong burden-carrier is Gotama the contemplative! And like a strong burden-carrier, when bodily feelings have arisen—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—he endures them mindful, alert, & unperturbed!” Then another devatā exclaimed in the Blessed One’s presence: “What a tamed one is Gotama the contemplative! And like a tamed one, when bodily feelings have arisen—painful, fierce, sharp, wracking, repellent, disagreeable—he endures them mindful, alert, & unperturbed!” Then another devatā exclaimed in the Blessed One’s presence: “See a concentration well-developed, a mind well released—neither pressed down nor forced back, nor with mental fabrication kept blocked or suppressed. Whoever would think that such a nāga of a man, lion of a man, thoroughbred of a man, peerless bull of a man, strong burden-carrier of a man, such a tamed man should be violated: What else is that if not blindness?” “Five-Veda Brahmans, living austerely for 100 years: Their minds are not rightly released. Lowly by nature, they’ve not gone beyond. Overpowered by craving, bound up in habits & practices, performing wretched austerities for 100 years: Their minds are not rightly released. Lowly by nature, they’ve not gone beyond. For one fond of conceit, there’s no taming; for one uncentered, no sagacity. Though alone in the wilderness, if one lives heedlessly, one won’t cross over, beyond Māra’s sway. But having abandoned conceit, well-centered within, with right awareness everywhere fully released, alone in the wilderness, heedfully living, one will cross over, beyond Māra’s sway.”