Dhammapada Verse 40
Pancasatabhikkhu Vatthu
Kumbhupamam kayamimam viditva
nagarupam cittamidam thapetva
yodhetha maram panna vudhena
jitanca rakkhe anivesano siya1.
Verse 40: Knowing that this body is (fragile) like an earthern jar, making
one's mind secure like a fortified town, one should fight Mara with the weapon
of Knowledge. (After defeating Mara) one should still continue to guard one's
mind, and feel no attachment to that which has been gained (i.e., jhana ecstasy
and serenity gained through meditation).
1. anivesano siya: not to be attached; in this Context not to be
attached to jhana ecstasy and serenity gained through meditation, but to proceed
further with Insight meditation practices until the attainment of arahatship.
(The Commentary)
The Story of Five Hundred Bhikkhus
[ Read longer version of
story here ]
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (40) of
this book, with reference to five hundred bhikkhus.
Five hundred bhikkhus from Savatthi, after obtaining a subject of meditation
from the Buddha, travelled for a distance of one hundred yojanas* away from
Savatthi and came to a large forest grove, a suitable place for meditation
practice. The guardian spirits of the trees dwelling in that forest thought that
if those bhikkhus were staying in the forest, it would not be proper for them to
live with their families in the trees. So they descended from the trees,
thinking that the bhikkhus would stop there only for one night. But the bhikkhus
were still there at the end of a fortnight; then it occurred to them that the
bhikkhus might be staying there till the end of the vassa. In that case, they
and their families would have to be living on the ground for a long time. So,
they decided to frighten away the bhikkhus, by making ghostly sounds and
frightful apparitions. They showed up with bodies without heads, and with heads
without bodies, etc. The bhikkhus were very upset and left the place and
returned to the Buddha, to whom they related everything. On hearing their
account, the Buddha told them that this had happened because previously they
went without any weapon and that they should go back there armed with a suitable
weapon. So saying, the Buddha taught them the entire Metta Sutta
(discourse on Loving-Kindness) beginning with the following stanza:
Karaniyamattha kusalena
Yanta santam padam abhisamecca
Sakko uju ca suhuju ca
Suvaco c'assa mudu anatimani.
[The above stanza may be translated as: "He who is skilled in
(acquiring) what is good and beneficial, (mundane as well as supra-mundane),
aspiring to attain Perfect Peace (Nibbana) should act (thus): He should be
efficient, upright, perfectly upright, compliant, gentle and free from
conceit."]
The bhikkhus were instructed to recite the sutta from the time they came to
the outskirts of the forest grove and to enter the monastery reciting the same.
The bhikkhus returned to the forest grove and did as they were told. The
guardian spirits of the trees receiving loving-kindness from the bhikkhus
reciprocated by readily welcoming and not harming them. There were no more
ghostly sounds and ungainly sights. Thus left in peace, the bhikkhus meditated
on the body and came to realize its fragile and impermanent nature.
From the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha, by his supernormal power, learned
about the progress of the bhikkhus and sent forth his radiance making them feel
his presence. To them he said, "Bhikkhus just as you have realized, the
body is, indeed, impermanent."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
| Verse 40: Knowing that this body is (fragile) like an earthern jar,
making one's mind secure like a fortified town, one should fight Mara
with the weapon of Knowledge. (After defeating Mara) one should still
continue to guard one's mind, and feel no attachment to that which has
been gained (i.e., jhana ecstasy and serenity gained through
meditation). |
At the end of the discourse, the five hundred bhikkhus attained arahatship.
* yozana: a measure of length about twelve miles.