On IV: The Renunciation of Sumedha
The Five Defects of a Walkway
1. A walkway that is rough and rugged hurts the feet of one who walks on it and blisters appear; consequently, meditation cannot be practised with full mental concentration. On the other hand, comfort and ease provided by a soft and even-surfaced walkway is helpful to complete the practice of meditation. Therefore roughness and ruggedness is the first defect of a walkway.
2. If there is a tree inside, in the middle, or by the side of a walkway, one who walks without due care on that walkway can get hurt on the forehead or on the head by hitting the tree. The presence of a tree is therefore the second defect of a walkway.
3. If a walkway is covered by shrubs and bushes, one who walks on it in the dark can tread on reptiles, and other creatures, and kill them, even though unintentionally. The presence of shrubs and bushes, therefore, is the third defect of a walkway.
4. In making a walkway, it is important that it has three lanes. The middle and main one is straight and of 60 cubits in length and one and a half cubits in breath. On either side of it are two smaller lanes, each a cubit wide. Should the middle lane be too narrow, say, only a cubit or half a cubit, there is the possibility of hurting one’s legs or hands through an accident. Being too narrow, therefore, is the fourth defect of a walkway.
5. Walking on a walkway which is too wide, one may get distracted; one’s mind is not composed then. Being too wide, therefore, is the fifth defect of a walkway.
The Eight Comforts of a Recluse
The eight comforts of a recluse (samaṇa-sukha) mentioned here are described as the eight blessings of a recluse (samaṇa-bhadra) in the Birth Story about Prince Soṇaka (Soṇaka-jātaka, Ja 529).
The Story about Soṇaka
The following is the Birth Story (Jātaka) in brief: Once upon a time, the Bodhisatta was reborn as Arindama, the son of King Magadha of Rājagaha. On the same day Soṇaka was born, a son of the king’s chief adviser.
The two boys were brought up together and when they came of age, they went to Takkasilā to study. After finishing their education, they left Takkasilā together and went on a long tour to acquire a wider and practical knowledge of various arts and crafts and local customs. In due course, they arrived at the royal garden of the King of Bārāṇasī and entered the city the following day.
On that very day, the festival of Veda recitations (Brāhmaṇa-vācaka) was to be held, and milk rice was prepared, and seats were arranged for the occasion. On entering the city, Prince Arindama and his friend were invited into a house and given seats. Seeing that the seat for the prince was covered with a white cloth while that for him was covered with red cloth, Soṇaka knew from that omen that: “Today, my friend Arindama will become King of Bārāṇasī, and I will be appointed general.”
After the meal, the two friends went back to the royal garden. It was the seventh day after the king’s demise, and the ministers were looking for a person who was worthy of kingship by sending the state chariot in search of him. The chariot left the city, made its way to the garden and stopped at the entrance. At that moment, Prince Arindama was lying asleep on an auspicious stone couch with his head covered, and Soṇaka was sitting near him. As soon as Soṇaka heard the sound of music, he thought to himself: “The state chariot has come for Arindama. Today, he will become king and give me the post of his
The chief adviser and ministers of Bārāṇasī anointed Prince Arindama as king, even on that very stone couch, and with great ceremonial pomp and grandeur took him into the city. Thus Prince Arindama became King of Bārāṇasī. Lost in the sudden turn of events and attended upon by a large number of courtiers and retinue, he totally forgot about his friend Soṇaka.
When King Arindama had left for the city, Soṇaka came out from his hiding place and sat on the stone couch. At that time, he saw a dry leaf of the Sāla (Shorea robusta) tree falling right in front of him, and he contemplated: “Like this Sāla leaf, my body will certainly decay and be oppressed by old age. I will definitely die and fall to the ground.” With his spiritual urgency (saṁvega) thus aroused, he at once engaged himself in insight (vipassanā) meditation, and, at the very sitting, there arose in him the Awakening of a Paccekabuddha, and he became a Paccekabuddha himself. His lay appearance vanished and he assumed a new appearance as an ascetic. Making an utterance of joy: “Now I have no more rebirth!” he went to the cave of Nandamūlaka, where other Paccekebuddhas lived.
Prince Arindama, on the other hand, remained intoxicated with kingly pleasures. Only after some 40 years, he remembered his childhood friend. Then he yearned to see him and wondered where he would be staying. But, receiving no news or clues about his friend’s whereabouts, he uttered repeatedly the following:
“To whom shall I give 100 coins for hearing and bringing me good news about Soṇaka? To whom shall I give 1,000 pieces of money for seeing Soṇaka in person and telling me how to meet him? I will give to he who, whether young or old, comes and informs me of my friend Soṇaka, my playmate with whom I had played in the dust.”
People heard the song and everybody sang the same, believing it to be his favourite.
After 50 years, a number of children had been born to the king, the eldest one being Dīghāvu. At that time, Paccekabuddha Soṇaka thought to himself thus: “King Arindama wants to see me. I will go to him and shower upon him the gift of thought-provoking sermons on the disadvantages of sensuality and the advantages of renunciation, so that he would incline to lead an ascetic life.” Accordingly, by his psychic power, he appeared in the royal gardens. Hearing a boy singing the aforementioned song of King Arindama while chopping wood the Paccekabuddha taught him a verse in response to the king’s.
The boy went to the king and recited the responding verse, which gave a clue to his friend’s whereabouts. Then, the king marched in military procession to the garden and paid respect to the Paccekabuddha. But, being a man of worldly pleasures, the king looked down upon him and said: “What a destitute you are, living a wretched, lonely life such as this!” The Paccekabuddha rejected the king’s censure by replying: “Never is he a destitute who enjoys the bliss of the Dhamma! Only he who dissociates himself from the Dhamma and practises what is not righteous is a destitute! Besides, he is wicked himself and forms a refuge for other wicked persons.”
Then he informed the Paccekabuddha that his name was Arindama and that he was known by all as a King of Bārāṇasī, and asked if the holy man was living a happy life.
Then the Paccekabuddha uttered eight verses in praise of the eight blessings of a recluse (samaṇa-bhadra):
1. Great King, a recluse, who has gone forth from a household life to a homeless state and who is free of the worries of wealth feels happy at all places and at all times, not only in your gardens and at this moment. Great King, such a recluse does not have to keep grain in stores or in jars unlike lay people who hoard, and whose greed grows for a long time. A recluse lives on food prepared in supporter’s homes and obtained by going on alms round; he partakes of such food with due contemplation.
By this is explained the comfort that comes from the non-hoarding of wealth and grain. There are two kinds of blameworthy food (sāvajja-piṇḍa). As mentioned in the Vinaya, the first kind is the food obtained by one of the improper means, such as by healing the sick and so on, or by one of the five wrong means of livelihood. The other blameworthy kind is food taken without due contemplation, although the food may have been properly obtained.
2. Great King, a noble recluse duly contemplates while eating the food that has been obtained blamelessly. He who has thus blamelessly eaten his blameless food is not oppressed by any form of sensuality. Freedom from oppression by sensuality is the second blessing of a recluse who has neither wants nor worries.
By this is explained the comfort that comes from the seeking and taking of blameless food. The food that has been sought properly and eaten with due contemplation by a worldling may be called “peaceful food” (nibbuta-piṇḍa), that is to say, the food that does not incite craving. In reality, however, only an Arahat’s food is “peaceful,” because that truly does not incite craving.
3. Great King, a noble recluse takes peaceful food only. He is thus not oppressed by any form of sensuality. Freedom from oppression by sensuality is the third blessing of a recluse who has no wants or worries.
By this is explained the comfort that comes from taking peaceful food only.
4. Great King, a noble recluse who goes on alms round in towns or villages without attachment to supporters of requisites, does not adhere to greed and hatred. Freedom from such clinging is the fourth blessing of a recluse who has no wants or worries.
Clinging wrongly to sense objects in the manner of a thorn is called faulty adherence (dosa-saṅga). By this is explained the comfort that comes from non-attachment to male or female supporters and from non-association with them.
5. Great King, a recluse, who has extra requisites which are not used by him, entrusts them to a supporter for security. Later on, when he hears such and such a supporter’s house has been gutted by fire he is greatly distressed and has no peace of mind. On the other hand, another recluse has only those requisites that are on his body or that he carries along with him, just like the wings of a bird that go with it wherever it flies. He suffers no loss when a town or a village is destroyed by fire. Immunity from loss of requisites through fire is the fifth blessing of a recluse.
By this is explained the comfort that comes from not being victimised by fire.
6. Great King, when a town or a village is plundered by robbers, a recluse who, like me, wears or carries along his requisites, loses nothing while others who have extra requisites suffer loss through the plundering by robbers and knows no peace of mind. Freedom from the trouble of looking after one’s possessions is the sixth blessing of a recluse.
By this is explained the comfort that comes from feeling secure against robbers.
7. Great King, a recluse, who has only the eight requisites as his possession, moves freely without being stopped, interrogated or arrested on the road where robbers waylay or security officers patrol. This is the seventh blessing of a recluse.
By this is explained the comfort that comes from harmless travelling on the road where robbers or security men are waiting.
8. Great King, a recluse who has only the eight requisites as his possession can go wherever he likes without taking a long look back at his old place. Such possibility of freely moving about is the eighth blessing of a recluse who has no possessions.
By this is explained the comfort that comes from freely going about without yearning for his old place.
King Arindama interrupted Paccekabuddha Soṇaka’s discourse on the blessings of a recluse and asked: “Though you are speaking in praise of the blessings of a recluse, I cannot appreciate them as I am always in pursuit of pleasures. I cherish sensual pleasures, both human and divine. In what way can I gain human and divine existence?” Paccekabuddha Soṇaka replied that those who relish sensuality are destined to be reborn in unhappy
Being immensely moved by spiritual urgency (saṁvega) as a result of the Paccekabuddha’s exhortation, King Arindama handed over the kingship to his son Dīghāvu and left for the Himālayas. After becoming a recluse, he lived on fruits and cultivated and developed absorption (jhāna) through meditation on the four sublime modes of living (Brahma-vihāra): loving-kindness (mettā), compassion (karuṇā), sympathetic joy (muditā) and equanimity (upekkhā), and was reborn in the Brahma realm.
The Nine Disadvantages of a Layman’s Clothes
The nine disadvantages of a layman’s clothes are:
1. The costliness of the garment.
2. It is available only through connection with its maker.
3. It gets soiled easily when used.
4. It gets worn out and tattered easily owing to frequent washing and dyeing.
5. It is difficult to find a replacement for the old one.
6. It is unsuitable for a recluse.
7. It must be guarded against loss through theft.
8. It appears to be ostentatious when put on.
9. When taken along without being worn, it is burdensome and makes one appear to be avaricious.
The Twelve Advantages of the Fibre-Robe
They twelve advantages of the fibre-robe are:
1. It is inexpensive but of fine quality.
2. There is the possibility of making it by oneself.
3. It is not easily soiled when used and is easily cleaned.
4. It is easily discarded when worn out, without a need for stitching and mending.
5. There is no difficulty in seeking a replacement for the old one.
6. It is suitable for a recluse.
7. It need not be guarded against loss through theft.
8. It does not appear to be ostentatious when putting it on.
9. It is not burdensome when taken along or put on.
10. There is no attachment to the robe as a requisite for the user.
11. It is easily made just by beating the bark from a tree; thus it is righteously and faultlessly gained.
12. There is no regret over its loss or destruction.
The fibre-robe means the robe made of fibre, which is obtained from a kind of grass and fastened together. This is described in the Abundance of Meaning (Aṭṭha-sālinī, DsA).
According to the Poem about Aspiration (Hsutauṅggan Pyo), fastening the fibres together itself is not the complete making of such a garment. It must be beaten so as to make it soft and smooth. That is why it is called “beaten fibre” in Myanmar. The “fibre-robe” has the name vāka-cīra, vakkala, and tirīṭaka in Pāḷi.
Vāka-cīra literally means “a robe made of grass,” and, therefore, it should actually be translated as “grass-robe.” But traditional teachers translate the word as “fibre-robe.”
The remaining two names, vakkala and tirīṭaka, refer to a robe made of fibres that come from the bark of a tree. Though the word vakka of vakkala means the “bark of a tree,” it does not denote pure, thick, outer crust of the bark, but the inner layers made up of fibres covering the wood-core. It should be noted that, because such fibres are taken off, fastened and beaten for softness and smoothness, the robe is called a fibre-robe. Though vāka-cīra has the meaning of “grass-robe,” the process of making the robe out of fibres taken from trees is more common than that of making it out of grass, and the name “fibre-robe” is better known than “grass-robes.” That is why the word “fibre-robe” is adopted in the Poem about Aspiration (Hsutauṅggan Pyo).
The Wooden Tripod
The wooden tripod (tidaṇḍa) is a requisite of a recluse. It is a stand with three legs, on which is placed a water jug or pot.
The Water Jug and the Yoke
The water jug (kuṇḍikā) is another requisite of a recluse. A yoke (khāri-kāja) is taken by traditional teachers as a combination of khāri and kāja, both meaning the same: a pole which is curved. According to some, khāri means a recluse’s set of requisites, which consists of a flint, a needle, a fan, etc. Taking these interpretations together, khāri-kāja may be taken as the pole on which are hung the various requisites of a recluse.
The Hide of a Black Antelope
The hide of a black antelope, complete with hoofs, is called ajina-camma and is also one of the requisites of a recluse, which may be explained as follows: the Pāḷi ajina-camma has been unanimously translated “the hide of a black antelope” by ancient scholars. It is generally thought, therefore, that a beast which is black all over its body is called a “black antelope.” In Amara’s Dictionary (Amara-kosa-abhidhāna, 17.47) the word ajina is explained as “hide,” which is synonymous with camma. This explanation of the Dictionary is worthy of note.
In the Abundance of Meaning (Aṭṭha-sālinī, DsA) and other commentaries, there is an expression meaning: “The hide, complete with hoofs, of a black antelope, which was like a bed of Laurel (punnāga) flowers.” The phrase “complete with hoofs” (sakhuraṁ) indicates that it is the hide of a hoofed animal. When it is said to be “like a bed of Laurel flowers,” we have to decide whether the likeness to a bed of Laurel flowers refers to its colour or to its softness. That the Laurel flowers are not particularly softer than other flowers is known to many. Therefore, it should be decided that the likeness refers to its colour, which is yellow. This suggests then that the hide could not be that of a black antelope.
Though ajina is translated “black leopard” by scholars of old, that it actually means an animal’s coat and is synonymous with camma is evident from such a statement as ajinamhi haññate dīpi, “a leopard is killed for its coat,” in the Birth Story about King Mahā Janaka (Mahā-janaka-jātaka, Ja 539) and the Birth Story about the Wise Suvaṇṇasāma (Suvaṇṇasāma-jātaka, Ja 540). The commentary on the Mahā Janaka also explains ajina to be a synonym of camma by saying ajinamhī ti cammatthāya camma-karaṇā, “for its coat means: for obtaining its hide.” There are only two words, dīpi and saddūla, meaning leopard in Pāḷi, ajina in not found in that sense.
The the Chronicles of the Buddhas (Buddha-vaṁsa) also says: Kese muñcitvāhaṁ tattha vāka-cīrañ-ca cammakaṁ. When Sumedha lay prostrate before Buddha Dīpaṅkara, offering himself as a bridge “he loosened his hair-knot and spread his fibre-robe and the animal hide on the mud.” The Pāḷi word used here is cammaka which is the same as ajina-camma discussed above.
All these considerations point to the fact that ajina-camma is not the coat of a beast with claws like a tiger, a leopard or a cat, and the adjectival phrase “complete with hoofs” shows that it is the coat of an animal with hoofs like that of cattle or horses. The coat has the colour of a bed of Laurel flowers as mentioned in the Abundance of Meaning (Aṭṭha-sālinī, DsA). It is also very soft to the touch.
Such animals as the antelope (eṇī) are found in the neighbourhood of the Himālayas. Because its coat is smooth and very beautiful and not easily available, people treasure it as a symbol of auspiciousness.
When Bodhisatta Siddhattha was born, the Cātumahārājika Devas of the four quarters received him from the hands of the saintly Brahmas of the Suddhāvāsa abode with a coat of this particular animal, a coat having a soft fur and commonly regarded to be auspicious. This is mentioned in the introduction of the Birth Stories (Jātaka) commentary and in the Chronicles of the Buddhas (Buddha-vaṁsa) commentary as well.
The author acknowledges that all that has been discussed regarding the translation of ajina-camma as the hide of a black antelope is the view of the great scholar U Lin, the previous compiler of The Great Chronicles of the Buddhas.
Matted Hair and Round Head-Dress Made of Hair
The difference between the matted hair (jaṭā) and the round headdress made of hair (jatā-maṇḍala) should be understood. Matted hair is something that is a part of the recluse. In order to save the trouble of keeping it well groomed, the recluse knots his hair firmly and tightly. This is what is meant by “matted hair.”
One of the requisites created and left in the hut by Vissakamma as mentioned in the Abundance of Meaning (Aṭṭha-sālinī, DsA) is the round headdress made of hair called jaṭā-maṇḍala. This is a thing separate from the recluse’s person, and so it is not a part of him. From the sentence: “He put the headdress on his topknot and fastened it with an ivory hairpin,” it is clear that the headdress is a thing separate from Sumedha’s hair-knot. It evolved into a recluse’s headdress in later times and protects the hair from dust and litter.
The author here mentions the opinions of the Monyway Zetawun Sayādaw and Mahā Sīlavaṁsa who stated that the “matted hair” and “headdress” are the same thing. But the author concludes his discussion by quoting the Poem about the Brahmin’s Son Hatthipāla (Hatthipāla Pyo), the Magadha Light on the Dictionary (Abhidhānappadīpikā), and certain Birth Stories (Jātaka) which say that they are two different things. By quoting the Poem about Hatthipāla and the Great Cause of Learning (Mahā-suta-kārī) [the Verses on Magha Deva and the Great Cause of Learning (Mahā-suta-kārī-magha-deva-laṅkā) is often referenced in these Further Explanations. I abbreviate it to the Great Cause of Learning (Mahā-suta-kārī) from here on.] the author finally says that just as a snare is used to catch a bird, so also the matted hair in the form of a snare is worn by a recluse to catch the great bird of “the eightfold noble path” as soon as it alights in the forest that is “his mind.”
The Eight Kinds of Recluses
The word “recluse” refers to those who are outside the Buddha’s teaching. Nevertheless, they should be regarded as holy persons of the time.
The commentary on the Discourse to Ambaṭṭha (Ambaṭṭha-sutta, DN 3) enumerates eight kinds of recluses as follow:
1. A recluse who piles up wealth and lives a householder’s life (saputta-bhariya). Here the author mentions Keṇiya [For Keṇiya see Vin Mv 6, the Story about the Matted-Haired Keṇiya (Keṇiya-jaṭila-vatthu, PTS 1.245)]. of the Buddha’s lifetime as an example.
2. A recluse who does not pile up wealth, and who does not live a householder’s life, but who collects unhusked grain from lay people at threshing grounds and cooks his own food (uñchā-cariya).
3. A recluse who collects husked grain from laymen in villages and cooks his own food (anaggi-pakkika). He thinks husking grain by pounding is not worthy of one who lives a recluse’s life.
4. A recluse who enters a village and collects cooked rice (asāmapāka). He thinks cooking is not worthy of one who lives a recluse’s life.
5. A recluse who takes off the bark of a tree for food by means of a metal (aya-muṭṭhika) or stone implement (asma-muṭṭhika). He thinks to collect food each day is wearisome.
6. A recluse who takes off the bark of a tree with his teeth for food (danta-vakkalika). He thinks to carry metal or stone implements is wearisome.
7. A recluse who lives on the fruits that fall by throwing stones or sticks at them (pavatta-phala-bhojana). He thinks to remove the bark is wearisome.
8. A recluse who lives only on leaves, flowers and fruits falling naturally from trees (paṇḍu-palāsika).
The last one is divided into three types:
1. He who remains seated without rising and who lives on leaves, flowers and fruits that fall within his reach (ukkaṭṭha-paṇḍu-palāsika).
2. He who moves from tree to tree and subsists only on leaves, flowers and fruits that fall from a single tree (majjha-paṇḍu-palāsika).
3. He who moves from tree to tree in search of leaves, flowers and fruits that fall naturally from trees, to maintain himself (mudu-paṇḍu-palāsika).
In addition, the author gives a somewhat different enumeration that is mentioned in the commentary on the Discourse about Conscience (Hiri-sutta) of the Anthology of Discourses (Sutta-nipāta, Snp 15):
1. A recluse who leads a householder’s life earning his living by farming, trading, etc., like Keṇiya and others (saputta-bhariya).
2. A recluse who, living near a city gate and teaching children of noble (khattiya) and Brahmin families, accepts only grain and crops but not gold and silver (uñchā-carika).
3. A recluse who lives only on food that is obtained at the meal time (sampatta-kālika).
4. A recluse who lives only on uncooked fruits and vegetables (anaggi-pakka).
5. A recluse who wanders from place to place with metal or stone implements in hand to remove the bark from trees for food whenever he feels hungry, and who observes precepts and cultivates meditation on the four sublime states (aya-muṭṭhika).
6. A recluse who wanders from place to place without metal or stone implements in hand and who removes the bark from trees with his teeth whenever he feels hungry and who observes precepts and cultivates meditation on the four sublime states (danta-luyyaka).
7. A recluse who lives depending upon a natural pond or a forest and who, going nowhere else, subsists on the lotus stems and stalks from the pond or on the fruits and flowers from the forest grove or even on the bark of trees when other kinds of sustenance are not available and who observes precepts and cultivates meditation on the four sublime states (pavatta-phalika).
8. A recluse who subsists on leaves that fall naturally and observes precepts and cultivates meditation on the four sublime states (vaṇṭa-muttika).
In these two lists of eight kinds of recluses, each type is nobler than the preceding type. Again, in these lists, excepting the first type: saputta-bhariya, all are holy persons, observing precepts and cultivating meditation on the four sublime states.
Sumedha came under the fourth category of the list given in the Chapter on Virtue (Sīlakkhanda) commentary for one day, a recluse who collects and lives only on food cooked by others (asāma-pāka); for the following days, he remained as a recluse of the eighth type: one who lives only on leaves, flowers and fruits that fall naturally from trees (paṇḍu-palāsika). According to the list given in the Anthology of Discourses (Sutta-nipāta) commentary, he came under the eighth category: a recluse who subsists only on leaves that fall naturally from trees and who observes precepts and cultivates meditation on the four sublime states (vaṇṭa-muttika).
The Three Kinds of Going Forth
The Pāḷi word pabbajjā has been translated as “the going forth as a recluse” by teachers of old.
1. Giving up of worldly life and becoming a seer (isi-pabbajjā).
2. Giving up of worldly life and becoming an ascetic (samaṇa-pabbajjā).
3. Giving up of worldly life and becoming a novice (sāmaṇera-pabbajjā).
Accordingly, there are three kinds of persons worthy of veneration and addressed as “shin” in Myanmar. They are seers (isi), ascetics (samaṇa) and novices (sāmaṇera).
The Eight Disadvantages of a Leaf-Hut
1. A hut requires the dweller to make efforts to acquire timber and other materials for its construction.
2. It requires the dweller to take constant care and to provide maintenance or reconstruction when the grass roof and mud of the walls decay and fall into ruins.
3. It requires the dweller to make room at any time for a visiting senior elder, who is entitled to suitable accommodation, so that he fails to get concentration of mind.
4. Being sheltered from sun and rain under its cover, the dweller tends to become soft and feeble.
5. With a roof and surrounding wall to provide privacy, it serves as a hiding place for committing blameworthy, evil deeds.
6. It creates attachment for the dweller, who then thinks: “It is my dwelling place.”
7. Living in it makes the inhabitant appear to be living a householder’s life with family.
8. It requires the inhabitant to deal with nuisances created by domestic pests, such as fleas, bugs, lizards, etc.
These are the disadvantages of a leaf-hut which Sumedha discerned and which prompted him to abandon the hut.
The Ten Advantages of the Foot of a Tree
1. The foot of a tree does not require the dweller to acquire building materials because it is already a dwelling place provided by nature.
2. It does not require the inhabitant to take constant care and to provide maintenance.
3. It does not require the inhabitant to make room for visiting senior elders.
4. It does not provide privacy, nor serve the inhabitant as a hiding place for committing evil deeds.
5. One who lives there is free from stiffness of limbs, unlike those dwelling in the open space, who suffer from such a discomfort.
6. One who lives there does not have to take possession of it as his own property.
7. One who lives there is able to abandon it without any attachment that comes with thinking: “It is my dwelling place.”
8. One who lives there does not have to request others to vacate the place for the purpose of cleaning.
9. It makes a pleasant place for the one who lives there.
10. Since one who lives there can easily find similar dwelling places wherever he goes, he does not cling to it as “my dwelling place.”