- - Home
  - Random sutta
  - Random article
  - Abbreviations
  - Glossary
  - Index
  - Help!
- Tipitaka
  - Vinaya Pitaka
  - Sutta Pitaka
  - DN
  - MN
  - SN
  - AN
  - KN
  - Khp
  - Dhp
  - Ud
  - Iti
  - Sn
  - Abhidhamma
Samyutta Nikaya
SN 1

SN 1.17

PTS: S i 7

CDB i 96

Dukkara.m (Kummo) Sutta: Difficult

The Tortoise

translated from the Pali by

Maurice O'Connell Walshe

The Pali title of this sutta is based on the PTS (Feer) edition.

...the deva spoke this verse...:

Hard it is to keep, and hard to bear, Recluse-life for him who lacks the skill. Obstacles abound, the fool is lost. How long can he endure the holy life, If he cannot hold his heart in check? Caught now here, now there, he stumbles, falls,

[The Blessed One replied:]

As the tortoise draws into his shell Each limb, the monk, withdrawn, with mind applied, Unattached, and doing harm to none, Passions wholly stilled, dwells blaming none.[1]

Notes

1.: Cf. Bhagavadgiitaa ii, 58: "He who withdraws his senses on all sides from sense-objects as the tortoise draws in his limbs, is firmly established in wisdom." The same image occurs in SN 35.199.

You may copy, reformat, reprint, republish, and redistribute this work in any medium whatsoever, provided that: (1) you only make such copies, etc. available free of charge and, in the case of reprinting, only in quantities of no more than 50 copies; (2) you clearly indicate that any derivatives of this work (including translations) are derived from this source document; and (3) you include the full text of this license in any copies or derivatives of this work. Otherwise, all rights reserved. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. From Samyutta Nikaya: An Anthology (WH 318-321), by M. O'C. Walshe (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1985). Transcribed from the print edition in 2007 by a volunteer, under the auspices of the Access to Insight Dhamma Transcription Project and by arrangement with the Buddhist Publication Society. Minor revisions were made in accordance with the ATI style sheet. Pali diacritics are represented using the Velthuis convention. Last revised for Access to Insight on 30 November 2013.

How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Dukkara.m (Kummo) Sutta: Difficult" (SN 1.17), translated from the Pali by Maurice O'Connell Walshe. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn01/sn01.017.wlsh.html .

Help | Site map | About | Contact | Terms of use