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Samyutta Nikaya
SN 16

SN 16.1

CDB i 662

Santu.t.tha.m Sutta: Contentment

translated from the Pali by

Maurice O'Connell Walshe

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

"Monks, Kassapa[1] here is content with any old robe. He praises contentment with any robe, nor does he commit any offense of unseemliness or impropriety[2] on account of a robe. If he has not got a robe, he does not worry; if he has got a robe he enjoys the use of it without clinging or foolish attachment, not committing any offense, aware of the danger and wisely avoiding it.[3] Kassapa is content with whatever alms he gets... whatever lodging... whatever requisites in the way of medicines for sickness... he enjoys the use of these things without clinging or foolish attachment, not committing any offense, aware of the danger and wisely avoiding it.

"Therefore, monks, you should train yourselves thus: We will be content with whatever robe,... alms... lodging... medicines... we may get... We will enjoy the use of these things without clinging or foolish attachment, not committing any offense, aware of the danger and wisely avoiding it.

"Monks, I will exhort you by the example of Kassapa, or one like Kassapa. So exhorted, you should practice to gain the goal."[4]

Notes

1.: This is Kassapa the Great (Mahaa-Kassapa), one of the Buddha's chief disciples and later leader of the Sangha. Not to be confused with Kassapa mentioned in SN 12.17.
2.: Unlike, e.g., Nanda (SN 21.8).
3.: Nissara.napañño: lit. "wise as to deliverance."
4.: Tathatta: "the state of thusness," Nibbaana. With a different suffix there is the almost equivalent term tathataa, found mainly in Mahaayaana texts, but also occurring in VM XVII, 6, etc., where it means "the state of being really so."

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): "Santu.t.tha.m Sutta: Contentment" (SN 16.1), translated from the Pali by Maurice O'Connell Walshe. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn16/sn16.001.wlsh.html .

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