SN 41.10

CDB ii 1330

Gilaana-dassana.m Sutta: Seeing the Sick (Citta)

translated from the Pali by

Maurice O'Connell Walshe

Alternate translation: Thanissaro

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

At that time Citta the householder was a sick man, suffering from a serious illness. Then a number of devas that dwell in gardens, forests and trees, the devas of healing herbs and of great trees in the forest, gathered together and said to Citta the householder: [1] "Make a resolve, householder: 'In some future time may I be a king, a world-ruler!'" [2]

To this Citta replied... "That is something impermanent, something to be rejected and passed over."

Now Citta's friends, colleagues and blood-relations heard him say this, and they said to him: "Sir! [3] Set up mindfulness, don't ramble!"

"What have I said that makes you tell me to set up mindfulness and not to ramble?"

"Why, sir, you just said: 'That is something impermanent, something to be rejected and passed over.'"

"Yes, but I said that to the devas who dwell in gardens... who bade me make a resolve that in some future time I might be a king, a world-ruler."

"Sir, what purpose did those devas have in mind in urging you to make such a resolve?"

"This is what those devas thought: 'This householder Citta is a virtuous man, of noble disposition. If he makes a resolve that in some future time he may be a king, a world-ruler, this will be profitable to that virtuous man, having made such a resolve with a pure heart, and will bring the just man a just and great reward...' So then I said, 'That is something impermanent, something to be rejected and passed over.'"

[ Citta then instructs them to have perfect faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, and passes away. ]

Notes

1.: A whole Samyutta ( SN 41 ) is devoted to this householder (see also Vol. II, No 23 ), who is held up as a model layman in SN 17.23 (not translated here). His name is not the same as citta "mind," but means "bright, shining."
2.: Cakkavatti lit. "a wheel-turning monarch," the Indian term for a universal ruler. This was what Gotama could have become if he had not become a Buddha. The devas are aware of Citta's great virtues (though they possibly exaggerate in thinking he could become a world-ruler!), but are not wise enough to think of his spiritual progress (cf. SN 1.20, n. 4 ).
3.: Ayyaputta = Ariyaputta lit. "son of the Ariyans" (cf. SN 22.7, n. 1 ).

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): "Gilaana-dassana.m Sutta: Seeing the Sick (Citta)" (SN 41.10), translated from the Pali by Maurice O'Connell Walshe. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition) , 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn41/sn41.010.wlsh.html .