Sunakkhattasutta

Majjhima Nikāya 105

With Sunakkhatta · Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral

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just as ifSeyyathāpi, Sunakkhattasunakkhatta, a manpuriso with an arrowsallena struckviddho wereassa with poisonedsavisena thickly smearedgāḷhūpalepanena.
hisTassa friends and colleaguesmittāmaccā relatives and kinñātisālohitā a surgeonbhisakkaṁ an arrow-removersallakattaṁ would getupaṭṭhāpeyyuṁ.
hisTassa thatso surgeonbhisakko arrow-removersallakatto with a scalpelsatthena opening of the woundvaṇamukhaṁ would cut openparikanteyya.
with a scalpelSatthena opening of the woundvaṇamukhaṁ having cut openparikantitvā with a probeesaniyā arrowsallaṁ would probe foreseyya.
with a probeEsaniyā arrowsallaṁ having probed foresitvā arrowsallaṁ would extractabbuheyya, would expelapaneyya poisonvisadosaṁ with residuesaupādisesaṁ.
with residueSaupādisesoti knowingjānamāno heso thusevaṁ would sayvadeyya:
my man‘ambho manpurisa, extractedubbhataṁ indeedkho yourte arrowsallaṁ, expelledapanīto poisonvisadoso with residuesaupādiseso.
and sufficientAnalañca to youte for harmingantarāyāya.
suitableSappāyāni andceva foodsbhojanāni you should eatbhuñjeyyāsi, do notmā yourte unsuitableasappāyāni foodsbhojanāni eatingbhuñjato woundvaṇo infectedassāvī should beassa.
from time to timeKālena and from time to timekālañca woundvaṇaṁ you should washdhoveyyāsi, from time to timekālena from time to timekālaṁ opening of the woundvaṇamukhaṁ you should anointālimpeyyāsi, do notmā yourte notna from time to timekālena from time to timekālaṁ woundvaṇaṁ washingdhovato notna from time to timekālena from time to timekālaṁ opening of the woundvaṇamukhaṁ anointingālimpato pus and bloodpubbalohitaṁ opening of the woundvaṇamukhaṁ would cover overpariyonandhi.
do notMā andca in wind and sunvātātape walkingcārittaṁ you should engage inanuyuñji, do notmā yourte in wind and sunvātātape walkingcārittaṁ engaging inanuyuttassa dust and dirtrajosūkaṁ opening of the woundvaṇamukhaṁ would infectanuddhaṁsesi.

Suppose a man was struck by an arrow thickly smeared with poison. Their friends and colleagues, relatives and kin would get a surgeon to treat them. The surgeon would cut open the wound with a scalpel, probe for the arrow, extract it, and expel the poison, leaving some residue behind. Imagining that no residue remained, the surgeon would say: ‘My man, the dart has been extracted and the poison expelled without residue. It is still capable of harming you. Eat only suitable food. Don’t eat unsuitable food, or else the wound may get infected. Regularly wash the wound and anoint the opening, or else it’ll get covered with pus and blood. Don’t walk too much in the wind and sun, or else dust and dirt will infect the wound.

wound-protectingVaṇānurakkhī andca, my manambho manpurisa, you should livevihareyyāsi healing itvaṇasāropī’ti.

Take care of the wound, my man, heal it.’

to himTassa thus it would beevamassa:
extracted‘ubbhataṁ indeedkho for meme the dartsallaṁ, expelledapanīto poisonvisadoso without residueanupādiseso.
and not capableAnalañca of meme for harmantarāyāyā’ti.
theySo unsuitableasappāyāni indeedceva foodsbhojanāni would eatbhuñjeyya. to himTassa unsuitableasappāyāni foodsbhojanāni for the one eatingbhuñjato woundvaṇo oozingassāvī would beassa.
notNa andca from timekālena to timekālaṁ the woundvaṇaṁ would washdhoveyya, notna andca from timekālena to timekālaṁ the wound openingvaṇamukhaṁ would anointālimpeyya. to himTassa notna from timekālena to timekālaṁ the woundvaṇaṁ for the one washingdhovato, notna from timekālena to timekālaṁ the wound openingvaṇamukhaṁ for the one anointingālimpato pus and bloodpubbalohitaṁ the wound openingvaṇamukhaṁ would coverpariyonandheyya.
in wind and sunVātātape andca walkingcārittaṁ would practiceanuyuñjeyya. to himTassa in wind and sunvātātape walkingcārittaṁ for the one practicinganuyuttassa dust and dirtrajosūkaṁ the wound openingvaṇamukhaṁ would infectanuddhaṁseyya.
notNa andca protecting the woundvaṇānurakkhī would livevihareyya notna healing the woundvaṇasāropī.
to himTassa by thisimissā andca by unsuitable actionasappāyakiriyāya, uncleanasuci poisonvisadoso expelledapanīto with residuesaupādiseso by bothtadubhayena woundvaṇo expansionputhuttaṁ would gogaccheyya.
theySo expansionputhuttaṁ by the one gonegatena by the woundvaṇena deathmaraṇaṁ orvā would incurnigaccheyya deadlymaraṇamattaṁ orvā paindukkhaṁ.

They’d think: ‘The dart has been extracted and the poison expelled with no residue. It’s not capable of harming me.’ They’d eat unsuitable food, and the wound would get infected. And they wouldn’t regularly wash and anoint the opening, so it would get covered in pus and blood. And they’d walk too much in the wind and sun, so dust and dirt infected the wound. And they wouldn’t take care of the wound or heal it. Then both because they did what was unsuitable, and because of the residue of unclean poison, the wound would expand, resulting in death or deadly pain.

In the same way, it’s possible that a certain mendicant might think: ‘The Ascetic has said that craving is a dart; and that the poison of ignorance is inflicted by desire and ill will. I have given up the dart of craving and expelled the poison of ignorance; I am rightly intent on extinguishment.’ Having such conceit, though it’s not based in fact, they would engage in things unconducive to extinguishment: unsuitable sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas. Doing so, lust infects their mind, resulting in death or deadly pain.

for it is deathMaraṇañhetaṁ, Sunakkhattasunakkhatta, of the noble oneariyassa in the trainingvinaye whoyo the trainingsikkhaṁ having resignedpaccakkhāya returns to a lesser lifehīnāyāvattati;
and it is deadly painmaraṇamattañhetaṁ, Sunakkhattasunakkhatta, paindukkhaṁ whichyaṁ a certainaññataraṁ corruptsaṅkiliṭṭhaṁ offenseāpattiṁ commitsāpajjati.

For it is death in the training of the Noble One to resign the training and return to a lesser life. And it is deadly pain to commit one of the corrupt offenses.

It’s possible that a certain mendicant might think: ‘The Ascetic has said that craving is a dart; and that the poison of ignorance is inflicted by desire and ill will. I have given up the dart of craving and expelled the poison of ignorance; I am rightly intent on extinguishment.’ Being rightly intent on extinguishment, they wouldn’t engage in things unconducive to extinguishment: unsuitable sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas. Doing so, lust wouldn’t infect their mind, so no death or deadly pain would result.

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