Vattha Sutta

 

This I have heard,

 

Once, the Awakened One was living at Sāvatthi

In Jeta’s grove, at Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.

 

There, he addressed the monks saying:

 

“Monks!”

“Bhadante” they replied.

The Awakened One said this:

 

“Monks, just as if a piece of cloth were stained and full of dirt[1]

And a dyer would soak it in any kind of dye;

Whether it was blue or yellow or orange or red,

It would look badly dyed and it dull in color.”[2]

 

Why?

 

Because of the dirtiness of the cloth.[3]

 

In the same way monks,

When the mind is soiled,

a difficult life can be expected,

 

 

Just as if a piece of cloth were clean and bright,

And a dyer would soak it in any kind of dye;

Whether it was blue or yellow or orange or red,

It would look well dyed and bright in color.

Why?

 

Because of the cleanliness of the cloth.

In the same way monks,

When the mind is clear and bright,

a happy life can be expected,

 

[1. The Stains of the Mind]

 

What are the stains of the mind?

 

1. Clinging to selfish desires is a stain of the mind,[4]
2. Impatience is a stain of the mind,
3. Anger is a stain of the mind,
4. Holding grudges is a stain of the mind,
5. Pretension is a stain of the mind,
6. Retaliation is a stain of the mind,
7. Jealousy is a stain of the mind,
8. Selfishness is a stain of the mind,
9. Deceit is a stain of the mind,
10. Dishonesty is a stain of the mind,
11. Obstinacy is a stain of the mind,
12. Arrogance is a stain of the mind,
13. Pride is a stain of the mind,
14. Self-aggrandizement is a stain of the mind,
15. Intoxication is a stain of the mind,
16. Carelessness is a stain of the mind.[5]

 

[2. Understanding & Letting go]

 

                        One lets it go.[7]

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

                        One lets it go.

 

[3. Understood & Given up]

 

At that time monks,

 

That it gets to be given up.[9]

              That it gets to be given up.

 

              That it gets to be given up.

 

              That it gets to be given up.

 

              That it gets to be given up.

 

              That it gets to be given up.

 

              That it gets to be given up.

 

              That it gets to be given up.

 

              That it gets to be given up.

 

                        That it gets to be given up.

 

                        That it gets to be given up.

 

                        That it gets to be given up.

 

                        That it gets to be given up.

 

                        That it gets to be given up.

 

                        That it gets to be given up.

 

                        That it gets to be given up.

 

[4. Uplifted Understanding]

 

[1. Buddha]

 

Then, one arrives at this joyful understanding

about the Buddha:[10]

 

The Exalted One is an Arahant,

Perfectly All-Awakened,

Endowed with knowledge and conduct,

Living happily,

Knower of the worlds,

Unsurpassed guide for those who seek self-mastery,

Teacher of Devas and humans,

Awakened and Blessed.

 

[2. Dhamma]

 

One arrives at this joyful understanding about the Dhamma:

 

‘The Awakened One’s Teaching is:

Well explained,

Directly visible,

Immediate,

Inviting,

Leading upwards,

To be experienced by the wise for oneself.

 

[3. Saṅgha]

 

One arrives at this joyful understanding about the saṅgha:

 

Good is the practice of the Awakened One’s saṅgha,

Straight is the practice of the Awakened One’s saṅgha,

Wise is the practice of the Awakened One’s saṅgha,

Meaningful is the practice of the Awakened One’s saṅgha.

That is, the four pairs of people,

The eight kinds of persons.

 

The saṅgha of the Awakened One is

Worthy support,

Worthy of hospitality,

Worthy of generosity,

Worthy of respect,

An unsurpassed field of goodness for the universe.

 

[Uplifted into Samādhi]

 

[Remembering the Buddha]

 

At that time, when one has

            given up

left behind,

released,

relaxed

and broke free [from these unwholesome states], [11]

                        one knows:

“I experience this joyful understanding of the Buddha,” [12]

Then, one knows and experiences the meaning, [13]

Knows and experiences the Dhamma, [14]

Knows and experiences the natural gladness of Dhamma. [15]

 

[Natural Samādhi] [16]

 

From that gladness, bliss arises in the mind;

From that blissful mind, the body becomes calm;

Calm in body, one experiences happiness;

With a happy mind comes Samādhi. [17]

 

[Remembering the Dhamma]

 

At that time, when one has

Given up

Left behind,

Released,

Relaxed

And broke free [from these unwholesome states],

One knows:

 

“I experience this joyful understanding of the Dhamma,”

Then, one knows and experiences the meaning,[18]

Knows and experiences the Dhamma,[19]

Knows and experiences the natural gladness of Dhamma[20]

 

[Natural Samādhi]

 

From that gladness, bliss arises in the mind;

From that blissful mind, the body becomes calm;

Calm in body, one experiences happiness;

With a happy mind comes Samādhi.

 

[Remembering the Saṅgha]

 

At that time, when one has

Given up

Left behind,

Released,

Relaxed

And broke free [from these unwholesome states],

One knows:

 

“I experience this joyful understanding of the Saṅgha,”

Then, one knows and experiences the meaning,

Knows and experiences the Dhamma,

Knows and experiences the natural gladness of Dhamma.

 

[Natural Samādhi]

 

From that gladness, bliss arises in the mind;

From that blissful mind, the body becomes calm;

Calm in body, one experiences happiness;

With a happy mind comes Samādhi.

 

 

[Remembering the Release]

 

At that time, when one realizes:

“I have given up

Left behind,

Released,

Relaxed

And broke free [from these unwholesome states].”

 

Then, one knows and experiences the meaning,

Knows and experiences the Dhamma,

Knows and experiences the natural gladness of Dhamma.

 

[Natural Samādhi]

 

From that gladness, bliss arises in the mind;

From that blissful mind, the body becomes calm;

Calm in body, one experiences happiness;

With a happy mind comes Samādhi.

 

[Unimpeded by Food]

 

If a monk of such virtue,

such Dhamma and such wisdom,[21]

Were to eat the finest, handpicked rice for alms,

With endless curry and dahl,

This would not impede him.

 

Just as a cloth which is stained and full of dirt

Becomes clean and bright with clean water,

Just as gold become clear and bright from a smith’s forge;

 

If a monk of such virtue,

Such Dhamma and such wisdom,

Were to eat the finest handpicked rice for alms,

With endless curry and dahl,

This would not impede him.

 

[Divine Meditations]

[Boundless Love]

 

One Meditates,

With a heart filled with Boundless Love;

Suffusing one direction,

a second, a third, and a fourth.[22]

 

Above, below,

And everywhere across.

To all living beings

In this boundless universe.[23]

 

One meditates with a heart filled with Love,

Vast, expansive, measureless,[24]

Free from anger and impatience.

 

[Boundless Compassion]

 

One Meditates,

With a heart filled with Boundless Compassion;

Suffusing one direction,

a second, a third, and a fourth.

 

Above, below,

And everywhere across.

To all living beings

In this boundless universe.

 

One meditates with a heart filled with Boundless Compassion,

Vast, expansive, measureless,

Free from anger and impatience

 

[Boundless Joy]

 

One Meditates,

With a heart filled with Boundless Joy;

Suffusing one direction,

a second, a third, and a fourth.

 

Above, below,

And everywhere across.

To all living beings

In this boundless universe.

 

One meditates with a heart filled with Boundless Joy,

Vast, expansive, measureless,

Free from anger and impatience

 

[Boundless Calm]

 

One Meditates,

With a heart filled with Boundless Calm;

Suffusing one direction,

a second, a third, and a fourth.

 

Above, below,

And everywhere across.

To all living beings

In this boundless universe.

 

One meditates with a heart filled with Boundless Calm,

Vast, expansive, measureless,

Free from anger and impatience

 

[Beyond Concepts]

 

One understands: [25]

“There is this,[26]

There is the base,[27]

There is the sublime,[28]

And there is a release beyond this field of conceptual thinking.”[29]

 

[Release]

 

Continually observing and understanding in this way;[30]

One’s mind is released,

From the inclination for clinging outwardly,

From the inclination to projecting in the future,

And from the inclination to carelessness.[31]

 

In that release, one knows:

“This is Release.”

 

One directly knows:

[Unwholesome states] have been overcome,[32]

Lived is the spiritual life,

Done, is what should be done,

There is no more conceit here.

 

Monks, I say that

This monk is cleansed by inner bathing.[33]

 

[Ritual Bathing]

 

At that time,

The brāhmaṇa Sundarika Bhāradvāja was sitting near and said:

 

“Does the Respected Gotama sometimes go

            to the Bāhuka river to bathe?”

 

[The Buddha]

 

Why brahmin, go bathe in the Bāhukā?

What will the Bhāhukā river do?

 

[Sundarika Bhāradvāja]

 

Dear Gotama,

the Bāhukā river is believed by most people

To bring fortune, [34] to bring goodness [35]

Most people go to the Bhāhukā river

to wash away the unrighteous actions they have committed.

 

To this, the Awakened One replied in verses:

 

[The Buddha]

 

“Bhāhukā and Adhikakka

Gaya and Sundarika too;

Sarassati and Payāga

And the river Bāhumati;

The misguided may forever jump into

Without brushing off dark actions.

 

What will the Sundarikā do?

What will the Payāgā, what the Bāhukā?

They do not cleanse those who have done hurtful actions,

Hateful men bent on harmful deeds.

 

For those bright [in heart], it is ever spring,

For those bright [in heart], the day is ever sacred;

Those bright [in heart], bright in actions,

Are ever practicing.[36]

Here Brāhmaṇa you should bathe,

And be a refuge for all living-beings.[37]

 

And if you speak no lie,

And if you harm not the living,

If you take not what isn’t yours

And if you be faithful and not selfish,

What need you to go to Gaya?

When all the wells will be your Gaya.”

 

[Going Forth]

When this was said, Sundarika Bhāradvāja said:

 

Excellent Dear Gotama!

Excellent Dear Gotama!

Just as if what had fallen over had been set upright,

or as what had been hidden was uncovered,

or as if the way was shown to someone who was lost,

or as if a light was shone in the darkness, thinking:

“Let those with vision see!”

 

In the same way Bhante,

The Awakened One Has brought forth

And elucidated the Dhamma in countless ways.

 

Respected Gotama,

I go to the Awakened One as a refuge

to the Dhamma

and to the bhikkkhu saṅgha.

 

I would like to go forth directly from master Gotama,

May I receive the higher ordination.

Then, the Brahmin Sundarika Bhāradvāja

            received the going forth,

And received the higher ordination.

 

[Arahantship]

 

Then, the Venerable Bhāradvāja;

Dwelling alone,

Secluded,

Attentive,

Intent

And resolute,

 

In no long time,

attained the purpose for which

sons of good families

honestly leave their home

and become [spiritual wanderers],

seeking for the highest:

The complete perfection of the holy life.

 

And having realized the Dhamma by his own direct knowledge,

He abided in it.

 

He directly knew:

[Unwholesome states] are vanquished,

Lived is the holy life,

Done is what should be done,

There is no more conceit here.

 

 

And the Venerable Bhāradvāja became another one of the Arahants.