Tipiṭaka / Tipiṭaka (English)

Vatthupama-sutta (On Fulling)

Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the Almsmen as follows: —

Even as a foul and dirty piece of cloth, if dipped by the fuller in blue, yellow, red, or pink dye, would take the dye badly and not come out a good colour, and that because of the cloth's impurity, — even so. Brethren, when a man's heart is impure, woe must be expected to ensue; and, conversely, just as cloth in the fuller's hands takes the dye well if it be pure and clean, so, when a man's heart is pure, bliss may be expected to ensue.

Now, what are the heart's impurities? — They are avarice and covetise, malevolence, anger, malice, rivalry, jealousy, grudging, envy, hypocrisy, deceit, imperviousness, outcry, pride, arrogance, inflation, and [37] indolence. Recognizing that each in turn of these is an impurity of the heart, an Almsman puts them from him; and when at last he has put them all from him, he comes to full belief in the Enlightened One and to recognition of him as the Lord, Arahat all-enlightened, walking by knowledge, blessed, understanding all worlds, the matchless tamer of the human heart, teacher of gods and men, the Lord of Enlightenment; he comes to full belief in the Doctrine and to recognition of it as having been excellently expounded by the Lord, as being here and now and immediate, with a welcome to all and with salvation for all, to be comprehended of each man of understanding; he comes to belief in the Lord's Confraternity and to recognition of it as schooled aright and as walking uprightly, trained in all propriety and in duty, the Brotherhood of the conversion with its four pairs making up the eight classes of the converted,¹ right worthy to receive alms, hospitality, oblations and reverence, unrivalled throughout the world as the field for garnering merit. To the uttermost, every form of self-seeking is renounced, spewed out, discharged, discarded and abandoned. Realizing that he has come to full belief in the Enlightened One — and in his Doctrine — and in his Confraternity, — the Brother reaches fruition of spiritual welfare and of its causes together with the gladness attendant thereon; from such gladness is born zest, bringing tranquillity to the body; with his body now tranquil, he experiences satisfaction, wherein he finds peace for his heart.

[38] An Almsman who has reached this pitch in virtue, character and lore, may, without harm or hurt, indulge in the choicest rice with all manner of sauces and curries. Just as a foul and filthy cloth, if plunged in clear water, becomes pure and clean; and just as silver, if passed through the furnace, becomes pure and clean; — even so can such an Almsman eat as he will without harm or hurt.

With radiant thoughts of love — of compassion — of sympathy — and of poise — his mind pervades each of the world's four quarters, — above, below, across, everywhere; the whole length and breadth of the wide world is pervaded by the radiant thoughts of a mind all-embracing, vast, and boundless, in which no hate dwells nor ill-will.

Thus much is so, says he to himself; there is a lower and there is yet a higher stage; Deliverance² lies beyond this realm of consciousness. When he knows and sees this, his heart is delivered from the Cankers of sensuous pleasure, of continuing existence, of ignorance; and to him thus Delivered comes knowledge of his Deliverance in the conviction: — Rebirth is no more; I have lived the highest life; my task is done; there is now no more of what I have been.

[39] — Such an Almsman is said to be inly washen.

Now at this time there was sitting close by the brahmin Sundarika-Bharadvaja who asked whether the Lord went to the river Bahuka to bathe.

What boots the river Bahuka, brahmin? What can it do?

It is reputed to cleanse³ and give merit; many have their burthen of evil borne away in its waters.

Thereupon, the Lord addressed the brahmin in these lines: —

In Bahuka⁴ at Adhikakkas ghat
Gaya, Sundarika, Sarassati
Bahumati, Payaga — there the fool
may bathe and bathe, yet never Cleanse his Heart,
Of what avail are all these ghats and streams?
— They cleanse not heart or hand of guilt.
For him whose heart is Cleansed each day is blest,
each day is hallowed; pure of heart and mind
he hallows each new day with vows renewed.
So hither, brahmin come and Bathe as I:
Love all that lives, speak truth, slay not nor steal,
no niggard be but dwell in faith, and then —
why seek Gaya? — Your well at home's Gaya!

Hereupon the brahmin said to the Lord: — Excellent, Gotama; excellent! It is just as if a man should set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what had been hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into darkness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has the reverend Gotama made his Doctrine clear. I come to Gotama as my refuge and to his Doctrine and to his Confraternity. I ask him to admit me as a Pilgrim in his train and to confirm me therein!

Admitted and confirmed accordingly, the reverend Bharadvaja was not long [40] before, dwelling alone and aloof, strenuous, ardent and purged of self, he won the prize in quest of which young men go forth from home to homelessness as Pilgrims, that prize of prizes which crowns the highest life, — even this did he think out and realize for himself, enter on, and abide in, here and now; and to him came the conviction that for him rebirth was now no more; that he had lived the highest life; that his task was done; and that now for him there was no more of what he had been. Thus the reverend Bharadvaja too was numbered among the Arahats.

Footnotes

1. The Confraternity — which, of course, does not include the laity — is here divided into eight classes, each of the Four Paths in conversion being subdivided into entrants and adepts (magga and phala).

2. Bu. interprets these four stages as the recognition successively of the Four Noble Truths. In a separate category, extirpation of the Cankers — for the Arahat here, as for the Buddha himself in Sutta No. 4 — precedes triumphant Deliverance.

3. Reading lokhyas, with Bu.

4. Bu. remarks that, while Bahuka, Sundarika, Sarassati, and Bahumati are rivers, the rest are titthas only, or ghats, on the Ganges.

*Majjhima Nikaya 7, translated by Lord CHALMERS

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