Guhaṭṭhakasutta

Sutta Nipāta 4.2

Anthology of Discourses 4.2

Guhaṭṭhakasutta

Eight on the Cave

Satto guhāyaṁ bahunābhichanno,

Trapped in a cave, thickly overspread,

Tiṭṭhaṁ naro mohanasmiṁ pagāḷho;

sunk in delusion they stay.

Dūre vivekā hi tathāvidho so,

That sort is far from seclusion,

Kāmā hi loke na hi suppahāyā.

for sensual pleasures in the world
are not easy to give up.

Icchānidānā bhavasātabaddhā,

The chains of desire, the bonds of life’s pleasures

Te duppamuñcā na hi aññamokkhā;

are hard to escape, for one cannot free another.

Pacchā pure vāpi apekkhamānā,

Looking to the past or the future,

Ime va kāme purime va jappaṁ.

they pray for these pleasures or former ones.

Kāmesu giddhā pasutā pamūḷhā,

Greedy, fixated, infatuated by sensual pleasures,

Avadāniyā te visame niviṭṭhā;

they are incorrigible, habitually immoral.

Dukkhūpanītā paridevayanti,

When led to suffering they lament,

Kiṁsū bhavissāma ito cutāse.

“What will become of us
when we pass away from here?”

Tasmā hi sikkhetha idheva jantu,

That’s why a personage should train in this life:

Yaṁ kiñci jaññā visamanti loke;

should you know that anything in the world is wrong,

Na tassa hetū visamaṁ careyya,

don’t act wrongly on account of that;

Appañhidaṁ jīvitamāhu dhīrā.

for the attentive say this life is short.

Passāmi loke pariphandamānaṁ,

I see the world’s population floundering,

Pajaṁ imaṁ taṇhagataṁ bhavesu;

given to craving for future lives.

Hīnā narā maccumukhe lapanti,

Base men wail in the jaws of death,

Avītataṇhāse bhavābhavesu.

not rid of craving for life after life.

Mamāyite passatha phandamāne,

See them flounder over belongings,

Maccheva appodake khīṇasote;

like fish in puddles of a dried-up stream.

Etampi disvā amamo careyya,

Seeing this, live unselfishly,

Bhavesu āsattimakubbamāno.

forming no attachment to future lives.

Ubhosu antesu vineyya chandaṁ,

Rid of desire for both ends,

Phassaṁ pariññāya anānugiddho;

having completely understood contact, free of greed,

Yadattagarahī tadakubbamāno,

doing nothing for which they’d blame themselves,

Na lippatī diṭṭhasutesu dhīro.

the attentive don’t cling to the seen and the heard.

Saññaṁ pariññā vitareyya oghaṁ,

Having completely understood perception
and having crossed the flood,

Pariggahesu muni nopalitto;

the sage, not clinging to possessions,

Abbūḷhasallo caramappamatto,

with dart plucked out, living diligently,

Nāsīsatī lokamimaṁ parañcāti.

does not hope for this world or the next.

Guhaṭṭhakasuttaṁ dutiyaṁ.