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Samyutta Nikaya
SN 2

SN 2.8

CDB i 143

Taayano Sutta: Taayana

translated from the Pali by

Maurice O'Connell Walshe

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

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying at Saavatthii...Then Taayana, son of the devas,[1] formerly a teacher of a [different] sect,...[2] spoke thus in verse before the Blessed One:

Put forth strength and cut the stream at the source, Brahman,[3] scatter all desires of the sense.[4] Else the sage can not attain the goal.[5] That which must be done, with vigor do:[6] Feeble recluseship but stirs up dust. Better nothing done than evil wrought: Ill one's done will cause one pain again. If the deed is good, it's better done: Good deeds will bring no pain to come. A blade of grass if wrongly seized, Will only serve to cut the clumsy hand, So ascetic life, if wrongly tried, Merely drags one down to states of woe.[7] Whatever action's slackly carried out, Practices improperly observed, Dubious keeping of the holy life: None of this will bring a great reward.

So said Taayana the devas' son and, so saying, he passed with his right side to the Blessed One in salutation and vanished there and then. And when the night was past the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus.

[He repeated the verses and then said:]

"Bhikkhus, learn Taayana's verses, learn them by heart; Taayana's verses are for your good, they pertain to the fundamentals of the holy life."

Notes

1.: Devaputta. See Vol. I, n. 7.
2.: Though he held certain wrong views, he believed in kamma (a vital point!), and so was reborn in a heaven state. He came to realize the superiority of the Buddha's teaching and therefore came to encourage disciples.
3.: Used here in the sense of a recluse.
4.: Dhp 383.
5.: Ekatta.m: "unity."
6.: The next 16 lines are found (differently ordered) as Dhp 313/314, 311/312.
7.: Niraya: "the downward path."

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): "Taayano Sutta: Taayana" (SN 2.8), translated from the Pali by Maurice O'Connell Walshe. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn02/sn02.008.wlsh.html .

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