Mahāsīhanādasutta

Majjhima Nikāya 12

The Longer Discourse on the Lion’s Roar · Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral

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thatSo indeedkho Iahaṁ, Sāriputtasāriputta, whichye thosete cow-pensgoṭṭhā cattle departedpaṭṭhitagāvo cowherds goneapagatagopālakā, theretattha on all fourscatukkuṇḍiko having approachedupasaṅkamitvā whichyāni thosetāni of calvesvacchakānaṁ youngtaruṇakānaṁ sucklingdhenupakānaṁ dunggomayāni thosetāni indeedsudaṁ I ateāhāremi.
and as long asYāvakīvañca myme, Sāriputtasāriputta, ownsakaṁ urine and excrementmuttakarīsaṁ not used upapariyādinnaṁ washoti, my very ownsakaṁyeva indeedsudaṁ urine and excrementmuttakarīsaṁ I ateāhāremi.
such indeedIdaṁsu myme, Sāriputtasāriputta, great unnatural eatingmahāvikaṭabhojanasmiṁ washoti.

I would go on all fours into the cow-pens after the cattle had left and eat the dung of the young suckling calves. As long as my own urine and excrement lasted, I would even eat that. Such was my eating of most unnatural things.

thatSo indeedkho Iahaṁ, Sāriputtasāriputta, a certainaññataraṁ awe-inspiringbhiṁsanakaṁ forest grovevanasaṇḍaṁ having plunged intoajjhogāhetvā I dweltviharāmi.
therein indeedTatrāssudaṁ, Sāriputtasāriputta, of the awe-inspiringbhiṁsanakassa forest grovevanasaṇḍassa as to its awesomenessbhiṁsanakatasmiṁ it washoti—
whoyo anyonekoci not free of greedavītarāgo thattaṁ forest grovevanasaṇḍaṁ enterspavisati, usuallyyebhuyyena their hairslomāni stand on endhaṁsanti.
thatSo indeedkho Iahaṁ, Sāriputtasāriputta, whichyā thosetā nightsrattiyo coldsītā wintryhemantikā in the eight-day frostantaraṭṭhakā the time of snowfallhimapātasamayā on suchtathārūpāsu nightsrattīsu by nightrattiṁ in the openabbhokāse I dweltviharāmi, by daydivā in the forest grovevanasaṇḍe;
of summergimhānaṁ in the lastpacchime monthmāse by daydivā in the openabbhokāse I dweltviharāmi, by nightrattiṁ in the forest grovevanasaṇḍe.
and thenApissu to memaṁ, Sāriputtasāriputta, thisayaṁ unprecedented verseanacchariyagāthā occurredpaṭibhāsi beforepubbe never heard beforeassutapubbā:
scorched‘Sotatto frozensosinno andceva,
aloneeko in the awe-inspiringbhiṁsanake forestvane;
nakedNaggo notna sitting by a firecaggimāsīno,
intent on his questesanāpasuto the sage (quote)munī’ti.

I would plunge deep into an awe-inspiring forest grove and stay there. It was so awe-inspiring that normally it would make your hair stand on end if you weren’t free of greed. And on days such as the cold spell when the snow falls in the January winter, I stayed in the open by night and in the forest by day. But in the last month of summer I’d stay in the open by day and in the forest by night. And then these verses, which were neither supernaturally inspired, nor learned before in the past, occurred to me: ‘Scorched and frozen, alone in the awe-inspiring forest. nude, no fire to sit beside, the sage still pursues his quest.’

thatSo indeedkho Iahaṁ, Sāriputtasāriputta, in a charnel groundsusāne a bedseyyaṁ I madekappemi bones of corpseschavaṭṭhikāni using as pillowupadhāya.
and thenApissu to memaṁ, Sāriputtasāriputta, village boysgāmaṇḍalā having approachedupasaṅkamitvā spat on me andoṭṭhubhantipi, urinated on me andomuttentipi, with dirt toopaṁsukenapi showeredokiranti, even into my earskaṇṇasotesupi twigssalākaṁ pokedpavesenti.
notNa indeedkho yet Ipanāhaṁ, Sāriputtasāriputta, recallabhijānāmi toward themtesu a badpāpakaṁ thoughtcittaṁ having arouseduppādetā.
such indeedIdaṁsu myme, Sāriputtasāriputta, abiding in equanimityupekkhāvihārasmiṁ washoti.

I would make my bed in a charnel ground, with the bones of the dead for a pillow. Then village louts would come up to me. They’d spit and piss on me, throw mud on me, even poke twigs in my ears. But I don’t recall ever having a bad thought about them. Such was my abiding in equanimity.

There are some ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view: ‘Purity comes from food.’ They say: ‘Let’s live on jujubes.’ So they eat jujubes and jujube powder, and drink jujube juice. And they enjoy many jujube concoctions. I recall eating just a single jujube. You might think that at that time the jujubes must have been very big. But you should not see it like this. The jujubes then were at most the same size as today. Eating so very little, my body became severely emaciated. Due to eating so little, my major and minor limbs became like the joints of an eighty-year-old or a dying man, my bottom became like a camel’s hoof, my vertebrae stuck out like beads on a string, and my ribs were as gaunt as the broken-down rafters on an old barn. Due to eating so little, the gleam of my eyes sank deep in their sockets, like the gleam of water sunk deep down a well. Due to eating so little, my scalp shriveled and withered like a green bitter-gourd in the wind and sun. Due to eating so little, the skin of my belly stuck to my backbone, so that when I tried to rub the skin of my belly I grabbed my backbone, and when I tried to rub my backbone I rubbed the skin of my belly. Due to eating so little, when I tried to urinate or defecate I fell face down right there. Due to eating so little, when I tried to relieve my body by rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair, rotted at its roots, fell out.

There are some ascetics and brahmins who have this doctrine and view: ‘Purity comes from food.’ They say: ‘Let’s live on mung beans.’ … ‘Let’s live on sesame.’ … ‘Let’s live on ordinary rice.’ … Due to eating so little, when I tried to relieve my body by rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair, rotted at its roots, fell out.

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