I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

1. Satti Sutta

Discourse Containing the Simile of a Spear-thrust

21. The Bhagava was at Savatthi... Standing at a suitable place, the deva uttered thus in verse in the presence of the Bhagava:

"As one pierced by a spear,
or as one whose head is on fire,
so should a bhikkhu lead a mindful life
to forsake sensual attachment.¹"

(The Bhagava said:)

"As one pierced by a spear,
or as one whose head is on fire,
so should a bhikkhu lead a mindful life
to abandon the illusion of Self.²"

End of the Satti Sutta,
the first in this vagga.

1. This stanza convoys the idea of urgency. When one is pierced by a spear thrust from above or when one's head has caught fire one would lose no time to save oneself. Similarly, a bhikkhu needs to be mindful at all times so as to save himself from the perils of attachment to sense-pleasures.

2. The Commentary says that the deva did not understand the force of the metaphor and was contented with his achievement of the temporary abandonment of sensual pleasures. The Buddha therefore emphasised to the deva that it is more important to uproot the illusion of Self (sakkayaditthi) through Magga Insight.
Sakkayaditthi, the view that there is bodily entity, is an illusion of Self as a distinct entity in regard to the manifestation of ones khandhas and is a wrong view.

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

2. Phusati Sutta

Discourse on Coming Into Contact

22. (The deva said:)

"He who does not come into contact with (i.e., does not commit) volitional action does not also come into contact with (i.e.. is also not affected by) the resultant thereof.
Further, he who comes into contact with volitional actions also comes into contact with the resultant thereof.
That being so, one who comes into contact with the volitional action of doing wrong to another that should not be wronged against comes into contact with the resultant thereof."

(The Bhagava said:)

If one wrongs a person who should not be wronged, who is pure and is free from defilements, i.e., an arahat, the evil falls back upon that fool like fine dust thrown against the wind."

End of the Phusati Sutta,
the second in this vagga.

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

3. Jati Sutta

Discourse on the Entanglement of Craving

23. (The deva said:)

Beings are entangled by the internal and external entanglement of Craving.¹ O Gotama, may I ask you this: who can disentangle this tangle?"

(The Bhagava said:)

A bhikkhu, one with innate wisdom,² strenuously striving, sagacious in all respects, established in morality, who cultivates concentration of mind and develops Vipassana-Insight, can disentangle this tangle.

"The arahats who have discarded attachment, hatred and ignorance, and in whom the defilements are extinct, have disentangled this tangle."
"Where mind and matter together with forms of consciousness due to contact and forms of consciousness that turns upon Corporeality³ come to utter cessation.
There (in the realisation of Nibbana), this tangle of Craving breaks up."

End of the Jata Sutta,
the third in this vagga.

1. entanglement of Craving:
Craving arises in seeing, hearing, smelling, etc.
It does so again and again, involving the whole range of the six sense objects. It works in a most intricate way so that it causes a tangle. Craving for one's possessions and oneself is the internal entanglement.
Craving for others possessions and other persons is the external entanglement.

2. innate wisdom: wisdom present at conception.

3. By the term 'forms of consciousness due to contact' it is to be understood as 'existence in the sensual planes'.
By the term 'forms of consciousness that turns upon corporeality' it is to be understood as 'existence in the fine-material planes.' The two terms taken together imply the inclusion of the non- material sphere, thus covering all the thirty-one planes of existence. (The Commentary)

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

4. Manonivarana Sutta

Discourse on Restraining the Mind.

24. (The deva said:)

"One should restrain the mind from any activity (either good or bad);
no suffering will come to such a person from any activity.
He who restrains his mind from all activities is free from all suffering."

(The Bhagava said:)

"The mind should not be restrained from every activity.¹
The well-directed mind should not be restrained.
(However,) the mind should be restrained from any activity that gives rise to evil."

End of the Manonivarana Sutta,
the fourth in this vagga.

1. The mind should not be restrained from every activity:
The Buddha understands the deva's wish for liberation from rebirth. But the deva is unable to discriminate between meritorious and demeritorious mental states. Meritorious mental states should be developed. A mind properly directed should not be held in check. For instance, a mind intent on charity, morality or insight- development should be cultivated.

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

5. Arahanta Sutta

Discourse on the Arahat

25. (The deva said:)

"The bhikkhu who is an arahat, who has accomplished the task (of Magga Practice), in whom the befuddling defilements are extinct, and who bears the last burden of existence (having no more rebirth), would such a bhikkhu say, ' I speak' or would he say ' I am spoken to?"

(The Bhagava said:)

The bhikkhu who is an arahat, who has accomplished the task (of Magga Practice), in whom befuddling defilements are extinct, and who bears the last burden of existence, might say ' I speak', or might say ' I am spoken to'. Knowing and being skilled in the conventional terms of the world, he might use such terms merely as conventional terms."

(The deva said:)

"The bhikkhu-who is an arahat, who has accomplished the task (of Magga Practice), in whom the befuddling defilements are extinct, and who bears the last burden of existence, would such a bhikkhu say, out of conceit, ' I speak'. or would he say 'I am spoken to?"

(The Bhagava said:)

A bhikkhu who has given up conceit has no bonds; he has destroyed all bonds of conceit. Such a wise one has passed beyond all concepts of 'mine', 'I' and 'my Self' (being motivated by Craving, conceit and wrong view).
Such a bhikkhu might say ' I speak', or might say 'I am spoken to'.
Knowing and being skilled in the conventional terms of the world, he might use such terms merely as conventional terms."

End of the Arahanta Sutta,
the fifth in this vagga.

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

6. Pajjota Sutta

Discourse on Radiance

26. (The deva said:)

How many kinds of radiance are there in the world, by which the world is illuminated? We have come to ask the Bhagava this question. How shall we understand this matter?

(The Bhagava said:)

"In the World there are four kinds of radiance; there is no fifth kind in this world.
By day shines the sun, By night shines the moon, And by day or by night fire gives light in this or that place.
But, of all things that shine, the radiance of the Self-Enlightened One stands supreme.
This radiance is unsurpassed."

End of the Pajjota Sutta,
the sixth in this vagga.

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

7. Sara Sutta

Discourse on the Expanse of Water

27. (The deva said:)

"Where does the expanse of water¹ recede?
Where does the whirlpool cease to whirl?
Where do mental and physical phenomena cease without any remainder?

(The Bhagava said:)

"(In Nibbana) where neither the element of cohesion, nor the element of extension, nor the element of heat, nor the element of motion has any footing, there the cycle of rebirth is halted; there the round of dukkha stops; there mental and physical phenomena cease without any remainder."

End of the Sara Sutta,
the seventh in this vagga.

1. expanse of water: sara: In this context sara is a metaphorical expression standing for the cycle of rebirth, and the whirlpool, vatta, as a metaphorical expression standing for the round of dukkha.

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

8. Mahaddhana Sutta

Discourse Concerning Persons of Great Wealth

28. (The deva said:)

Even kings, holding (vast) domains, with their great wealth and riches,
are not satisfied with the sensual pleasures
(afforded by their wealth and power) and covet one another's property.
"Among those who preoccupy themselves with worldly things
and drift along with life's (unending) stream, who in this world have given up Craving?
Who in this world are free from preoccupations."

(The Bhagava said:)

"Those who have left hearth and home,
leaving behind beloved children and possessions such as cattle, become recluses.
Doing away with attachment and hatred and destroying ignorance, they become arahats in whom defilements are extinct.
Those arahats have no preoccupations with worldly things."

End of the Mahaddhana Sutta,
the eighth in this vagga.

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

9. Catucakka Sutta

Discourse on the Four Postures

29. (The deva said:)

"O Mighty One!
The body has four postures;
it has nine orifices¹
it is filled with faeces;
it is bound up with greed;
it comes into being in the marsh (of the mother's womb).
In what way can there be escape from the body?"

(The Bhagava said:)

"By cutting off the cords of enmity,
the thongs of defilements,
evil desire which is greed, and
by uprooting Craving,
there will be escape from the body."

End of the Catucakka Sutta,
the ninth in this vagga.

1. It has nine orifices:
The body is constantly excreting matter through nine orifices viz., two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, the anus and the urinal tract.

I. DEVATA SAMYUTTA

(iii) SATTI VAGGA

10. Enijangha Sutta

Discourse Beginning with the Words ' Enijangham

30. (The deva said:)

O Bhagava who has shanks well rounded like those of the antelope,
who has a well-proportioned body,
who is energetic, moderate in taking food,¹ not self- indulgent (regarding the use of the four requisites),
who is like the lion or the tusker that roams alone,
who disdains sensual pleasures,---
we have come to you to put this question:
'How does one get release from dukkha?"

(The Bhagava said:)

"In this world the five sensual pleasures and the mind as the sixth factor have been made known.
By divesting oneself of the desire for and attachment to these (i.e., the body and mind)
one is released from dukkha."

End of the Enijangha Sutta,
the tenth in this vagga.

1. Moderate in taking food: Abstaining from food after noon. This is a general discipline of the Samgha laid down and practised by the Buddha himself.

End of the Satti Vagga,
the third in this Samyutta.