SN 1.46 Nymphs/Chariot to Nibbana

[mikenz66]

SN 1.46 Nymphs
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi

"Resounding with a host of nymphs,
Haunted by a host of demons!
This grove is to be called 'Deluding':
How does one escape from it?"

"'The straight way' that path is called,
And 'fearless' is its destination.
The chariot is called 'unrattling,'
Fitted with wheels of wholesome states.

"The sense of shame is its leaning board,
Mindfulness it's upholstry;
I call the Dhamma the charioteer,
With right view running out in front.

"One who has such a vehicle---
Whether a woman or a man---
Has, by means of this vehicle,
Drawn close to Nibbana."

[mikenz66]

Translation given in "In this very life", Sayadaw U Pandita.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pesala/Pan ... ariot.html

“O Lord Buddha devaland is so noisy! It’s full of racket from all these devas. They look like petas (unhappy ghosts) to me, frolicking in their own land. Confusing it is to be in such a place. Please show me a way out!”

“O deva, straight is the path you have trodden. It will lead you to that safe haven, free from fear, which is your goal. You shall ride in chariot that is perfectly silent. Its two wheels are mental and physical effort. Conscience is its backrest. Mindfulness is the armor that surrounds this chariot, and right view is the charioteer. Anyone, woman or man, possessing such a chariot and driving it well, shall have no doubt of reaching nibbāna.”

[mikenz66]

Translation by Sister Upallavanna.
http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pit ... ggo-e.html

1. 5. 6.

(46) Accharà: For The Snapping of the Finger.

"With the snapping of the finger, the demons are associated,
At the end of the forest is the enticement, how is this done?"

"Upright, is the name of the path, no fear is the direction.
Not crooked is the name of the chariot with the eye of the Teaching.
Shame is the brakes and the accessories are mindfulness.
Charioteer I say is the Teaching and right view, the attendant
If any woman or man goes in this direction,
He reaches close up to extinction in this vehicle."

[mikenz66]

Those who read German may find this useful:
http://palikanon.com/samyutta/sam01_50.html#s1_46

[mikenz66]

The background story from the Commentary is told very colorfully in U Pandita's chapter: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pesala/Pan ... ariot.html

From Bhikkhu Bodhi:

Spk relates the background story: In his previous life this deva had been an overzealous bhikkhu who had neglected sleep and food in order to attend to his meditation subject. Because of his excessive zeal, he died of a wind ailment and was immediately reborn in the Taviatimsa heaven amidst a retinue of celestial nymphs (acchara). The change occurred so quickly that he did not even know he had expired and thought he was still a bhikkhu. The numphs tried to seduce him, but he rejected their amorous advances and tried to resume his meditation practice. Finally, when the nymphs brought him a mirror, he realized he had been reborn as a deva, but he thought: "I did not practise the work of an ascetic in order to take rebirth here, but to attain the supreme goal of arahantship." Then, with his virtue still intact, surrounded by the retinue of nymphs, he went to the Buddha and spoke the first verse.

The verse revolves around a word play between Nandana, the garden of delight, and Mohana, the garden of delusion. The garden was "resounding with a host of nymphs" because the nymphs were singing and playing musical instruments.

Spk paraphrases the question by way of its intent: " Teach me insight meditation, which is the basis for arahantship."

[mikenz66]

From Bhikkhu Bodhi's notes on the Chariot simile.

Spk: The eightfold path is called the straight way (ujuko maggo) because it is devoid of crookedness of bodily conduct, etc. The destination, Nibbana, is said to be fearless (abhaya) because there is nothing to fear in that and because there is no fear for one who has attained it. Unlike an actual chariot, which rattles or whines when its axle is not lubricated or when it is mounted by too many people, the eightfold path does not rattle or whine. (na kujati na viravati) even when mounted simultaneously by 84,000 beings. The chariot itself is also the eightfold path, and its wheels of wholesome states (dhammacakka) are bodily and mental energy. the D'hamma" that is called the charioteer is the supramundane path, with the right view of insight (vipassana-sammaditthi) running out in front (purejava). For just as the king's servants first clear the path before the king comes out, so the right view of insight clears the way by contemplating the aggregates, etc, as impermanent, etcd, and the right view of the path (magga-samma-ditthi) arises fully understanding the round of existence.

The extended simile should be compared with that of the brahmayana, the divine vehicle, at SN 45.4; see too the extended chariot simile at Ja VI 252-53.

SN 45.4 is at: http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pit ... ggo-e.html
44. 1. 4. (4) Bràhmano (The numbering system is different in that translation from Bhikkhu Bodhi's).

[mikenz66]

Spk: having completed the discourse (the verse),the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths, and at the end of that discourse the deva was established in the fruit of stream entry; the other beings present attained the fruits that accorded with their own supporting conditions.

[paul]

The abbreviated way parts of the SN are written gives rise to idiosyncratic interpretations: BB presents the wheels of the vehicle as wholesome states whereas SUP interprets them as mental and physical effort.
The components of the vehicle represent the threefold division: wholesome states=Sila, Mindfulness= Samadhi, Right View= Panna.
The chariot is also used (Vism. XVIII, 25-28) to describe how when it's parts "are arranged in a certain way, there comes to be the mere term of common usage 'chariot', yet in the ultimate sense when each part is examined, there is no chariot...": understanding the two simultaneous realities is a task of Purification of View.

[mikenz66]

Hi Paul,

Yes, I thought the different translations of the words was interesting.

The "parts of the chariot" simile is in this sutta:
SN 5.10 Vajira Sutta: Vajira
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .bodh.html



Mike