sutta » sn » sn56 » Saṁyutta Nikāya 56.36

Pāṇasutta

Living Creatures

“Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, puriso yaṁ imasmiṁ jambudīpe tiṇakaṭṭhasākhāpalāsaṁ tacchetvā ekajjhaṁ saṁhareyya;
“Suppose a person was to strip all the grass, sticks, branches, and leaves in India, gather them together into one pile,

ekajjhaṁ saṁharitvā sūlaṁ kareyya.
and make them into stakes.

Sūlaṁ karitvā ye mahāsamudde mahantakā pāṇā te mahantakesu sūlesu āvuneyya, ye mahāsamudde majjhimakā pāṇā te majjhimakesu sūlesu āvuneyya, ye mahāsamudde sukhumakā pāṇā te sukhumakesu sūlesu āvuneyya.
Then they’d impale the large creatures in the ocean on large stakes; the medium-sized creatures on medium-sized stakes; and the small creatures on small stakes.

Apariyādinnā ca, bhikkhave, mahāsamudde oḷārikā pāṇā assu.
They wouldn’t run out of sizable creatures in the ocean before

Atha imasmiṁ jambudīpe tiṇakaṭṭhasākhāpalāsaṁ parikkhayaṁ pariyādānaṁ gaccheyya.
using up all the grass, sticks, branches, and leaves in India.

Ito bahutarā kho, bhikkhave, mahāsamudde sukhumakā pāṇā, ye na sukarā sūlesu āvunituṁ.
There are far more small creatures in the ocean than this, so it wouldn’t be feasible to impale them on stakes.

Taṁ kissa hetu?
Why is that?

Sukhumattā, bhikkhave, attabhāvassa.
Because of the small size of those life-forms.

Evaṁ mahā kho, bhikkhave, apāyo.
That’s how big the plane of loss is.

Evaṁ mahantasmā kho, bhikkhave, apāyasmā parimutto diṭṭhisampanno puggalo ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti …pe… ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yathābhūtaṁ pajānāti.
A person accomplished in view, exempt from that vast plane of loss, truly understands: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’.

Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti yogo karaṇīyo …pe… ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yogo karaṇīyo”ti.
That’s why you should practice meditation …”

Chaṭṭhaṁ.