23.5 The Story about the Novice Sāṇu
Sānusāmaṇeravatthu

“Formerly this wandering mind wandered,” this Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to the novice Sānu. {4.18}

Sānu, we are told, was the only son of a certain female lay disciple, who went forth when he was a mere boy. From the day of his taking higher ordination, he was virtuous and faithful to duty. He performed faithfully all of the duties to a teacher, to a preceptor, and to visiting bhikkhus. On the eighth day of the month he would rise early in the morning, and after placing water in the enclosure reserved for water, would sweep the hall in which the Teacher taught, lay out the seats, and lighting a lamp, utter in a pleasing tone of voice the proclamation summoning the people to come and listen to the Dhamma.

The bhikkhus, observing his faithfulness and diligence, desired often to hear him intone the sacred word, and would frequently request him so to do. And the novice would never reply: “My heart aches,” or “My body is weary,” or show any reluctance about complying with their request. But he would ascend the Dhamma seat and intone the sacred word as though he were bringing the celestial river down from the sky; and then he would descend and say: “All the merit I have acquired by thus intoning the sacred word, I make over to my mother and father.”

Now his human mother and father {4.19} did not know that their son was making over to them the merit he acquired by intoning the sacred word. But his mother in the state of existence immediately preceding, had been reborn as a Yakkhinī. And she used to come with the Devatās and listen to the Dhamma. And she would say: “Dear son, I thank you for the merit which, as a novice, you have made over to me.” There is a saying: “A bhikkhu who keeps the precepts perfectly is dear both to the worlds of the Devas and to the world of humans.” Therefore it was that the Devatās, full of respect and reverence for the novice, esteemed him even as Great Brahma or as a flame of fire; and by reason of their reverence for the novice, revered and praised also the Yakkhinī, [30.208] his mother. When the Yakkhas assembled to hear the Dhamma, it was always to the Yakkhinī, the Mother of Sānu, that they gave the first seat and the first water and the first ball of rice. Even powerful Yakkhas, when they saw her, would step down from the road or rise from their seats.

Now when the novice Sānu reached manhood and his physical powers became fully developed, he began to be oppressed with discontent. Unable to drive away discontent, one day, without saying a word to anyone, with hair and nails grown long and under and upper garments soiled and dirty, he took bowl and robe and went quite alone to the house of his mother. When the female lay disciple saw her son, she saluted him and said: “Dear, {4.20} hitherto it has been your practice to come here with your teacher and your preceptor, or with other young bhikkhus and novices; why is it that you come here today quite alone?” The novice informed his mother that he was suffering from discontent. Upon this the faithful female lay disciple discoursed to her son on the manifold disadvantages of the household life. But in spite of her admonition she was unable to convince him.

Finally the thought occurred to her: “Perhaps, even without my urging him, he will come to his senses of his own accord.” So she said to him: “Remain here, dear, until I procure you rice-gruel and boiled rice. When you have drunk the gruel and finished your meal, I will take down some pleasing garments and give them to you.” And preparing a seat, she gave it to her son. The novice sat down, and in a moment the lay disciple brought rice-gruel and hard food and gave them to him. Then saying to herself: “I will boil some rice for him,” she seated herself not far off and began to wash the rice.

Now at this time that Yakkhinī considered within herself: “Where is the novice? Is he receiving food in alms or not?” Perceiving that the novice was filled with a desire to return to the life of a lay disciple, and that for this reason he had gone and seated himself in his mother’s house, she thought to herself: “If I gain possession of the novice, I shall be treated with respect by the powerful Devatās; I will therefore go to the novice and prevent him from returning to the life of a lay disciple.” Accordingly the Yakkhinī went and took possession of the body of the novice, twisted his neck, and felled him to the ground. With rolling eyes and foaming mouth, he lay quivering on the earth. {4.21}

When the female lay disciple saw the plight of her son, she ran [30.209] quickly to him, took her son in her arms, and laid him on her breast. All the inhabitants of the village flocked there, bringing offerings. But the female lay disciple wept and lamented and pronounced the following verses:

The fourteenth, and fifteenth,
and eighth days of the month,
the extra holidays,
complete with eight factors,
observing the Observance Day,
those who live the celibate life.

The Yakkhas do not play around,
so I heard from the Arahats,
but today I see the Yakkhas
are indeed playing with Sānu.

Having heard the lay disciple’s word, the Yakkhinī replied:

The fourteenth, and fifteenth,
and eighth days of the month,
the extra holidays,
complete with eight factors,
observing the Observance Day,
those who live the celibate life.

The Yakkhas do not play around,
those Arahats have heard it well.

Having listened, she said:

Sānu, do not reject the Awakened,
this is the word of the Yakkhas,
do not do wicked deeds, whether
in the open or in secret.

If you do wicked deeds, either
now or in the future, there will
be no release from suffering,
though you fly up and flee away. {4.22}

Thus if you do wicked deeds, you will not win release, even though, like a bird, you fly up into the air and flee away.”

So saying, the Yakkhinī released the novice. The novice opened his eyes and saw his mother with disheveled hair, panting and gasping and weeping, and all the inhabitants of the village gathered together. Not knowing that he had been seized by a Yakkhinī, he said: “But a moment ago I was sitting in a chair, and my mother sat near me washing rice; but now I am lying on the ground. What does this mean?” And even as he sat there, he said to his mother:

Mother, they weep for the dead, or
for those living, but seen no more.
Mother, they see I am living,
Mother, why do you weep for me?

Then his mother pointed out to him the bad consequences of setting out to return to the world after once going forth and renouncing the pleasures of the world and the pleasures of sense. She said: [30.210]

My son, they weep for the dead, or
for those living, but seen no more,
and for those who, having renounced
pleasure, return to the life again.
My son they indeed weep for him,
who, though living, has died again. {4.23}

His mother, having thus spoken, compared the household life to a bed of hot ashes, even to the underworld, and pointing out once more the disadvantages of the household life, said:

My dear, there are hot ashes on both sides,
do you want to fall into hot ashes?
My dear, there is hell on both sides
do you want to fall into hell?

Then said his mother to him: “Son, good luck to you! But this, my son, whom I snatched from the burning like household goods, and who went forth in the dispensation of the Buddha, desires again to burn in the household life. Hurry here and protect us!” Then she thought: “Is there no way by which I can arouse his disgust? Is there no way by which I can arouse his repugnance?” And to make the matter clear, she pronounced the following verse:

You must hurry here, lucky one,
to who else can we make complaint?
Though like goods removed from burning,
you desire to burn once again.

As his mother spoke, Sānu came to his senses and said: “I have no use for the household life.” His mother replied: “Good, my son!” And pleased at heart, she gave him choice food to eat. Then she asked him: “How old are you, my son?” Knowing that he was old enough to be admitted to full membership in the Saṅgha, she provided him with a set of three robes. With bowl and robes complete he received the higher ordination.

The Teacher, since the youth had but recently received the higher ordination, urged him to make strenuous effort to control his thoughts, {4.24} and said to him: “If a man allows his thoughts to wander here and there for a long time, dwelling on all manner of objects, and makes no effort to control them, it is impossible for him to attain safety. Therefore a man should put forth every effort to control his thoughts, even as an elephant-driver controls an elephant in rut with his hook.” So saying, he pronounced the following verse:

326. Idaṁ pure cittam-acāri cārikaṁ
yenicchakaṁ yatthakāmaṁ yathāsukhaṁ,
tad-ajjahaṁ niggahessāmi yoniso,
hatthim-pabhinnaṁ viya aṅkusaggaho.

Formerly this wandering mind wandered
through desire, pleasure, happiness,
but today I will control it wisely,
like one with goad an elephant. [30.211] {4.25}

At the end of the teaching many Devatās who came with Sānu to hear the Dhamma, had comprehension of the Dhamma.

Venerable Sānu mastered the Three Baskets, the word of the Buddha. He became a mighty teacher of the Dhamma, lived to 120 years, and having stirred up the whole Jambudīpa, passed into Parinibbāna.

last updated: August 2024