SN 1–11 The Group of Connected Discourses With Verses – Sagāthāvaggasaṁyutta > SN 2 Connected Discourses on Gods – Devaputtasaṁyutta > SN 2.26 With Rohitassa

Linked Discourses 2.26 – Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.26

3. Various Sectarians – 3. Nānātitthiyavagga

SN 2.26 With Rohitassa – Rohitassasutta

At Sāvatthī.

Sāvatthinidānaṁ.

Standing to one side, the god Rohitassa said to the Buddha:

Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho rohitasso devaputto bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

“Sir, is it possible to know or see or reach the end of the world by traveling to a place where there’s no being born, growing old, dying, passing away, or being reborn?”

“yattha nu kho, bhante, na jāyati na jīyati na mīyati na cavati na upapajjati, sakkā nu kho so, bhante, gamanena lokassa anto ñātuṁ vā daṭṭhuṁ vā pāpuṇituṁ vā”ti?

“Reverend, I say it’s not possible to know or see or reach the end of the world by traveling to a place where there’s no being born, growing old, dying, passing away, or being reborn.”

“Yattha kho, āvuso, na jāyati na jīyati na mīyati na cavati na upapajjati, nāhaṁ taṁ gamanena lokassa antaṁ ñāteyyaṁ daṭṭheyyaṁ patteyyanti vadāmī”ti.

“It’s incredible, sir, it’s amazing,

“Acchariyaṁ, bhante, abbhutaṁ, bhante.

how well said this was by Master Gotama.

Yāvasubhāsitamidaṁ, bhante, bhagavatā:

‘yattha kho, āvuso, na jāyati na jīyati na mīyati na cavati na upapajjati, nāhaṁ taṁ gamanena lokassa antaṁ ñāteyyaṁ daṭṭheyyaṁ patteyyanti vadāmī’ti.

Once upon a time, I was a hermit called Rohitassa, son of Bhoja. I was a sky-walker with psychic power.

Bhūtapubbāhaṁ, bhante, rohitasso nāma isi ahosiṁ bhojaputto iddhimā vehāsaṅgamo.

I was as fast as a light arrow easily shot across the shadow of a palm tree by a well-trained expert archer with a strong bow.

Tassa mayhaṁ, bhante, evarūpo javo ahosi; seyyathāpi nāma daḷhadhammā dhanuggaho susikkhito katahattho katayoggo katūpāsano lahukena asanena appakasireneva tiriyaṁ tālacchāyaṁ atipāteyya.

My stride was such that it could span from the eastern ocean to the western ocean.

Tassa mayhaṁ, bhante, evarūpo padavītihāro ahosi; seyyathāpi nāma puratthimā samuddā pacchimo samuddo.

This wish came to me:

Tassa mayhaṁ, bhante, evarūpaṁ icchāgataṁ uppajji:

‘I will reach the end of the world by traveling.’

‘ahaṁ gamanena lokassa antaṁ pāpuṇissāmī’ti.

Having such speed and stride, I traveled for my whole lifespan of a hundred years—pausing only to eat and drink, go to the toilet, and sleep to dispel weariness—and I passed away along the way, never reaching the end of the world.

So khvāhaṁ, bhante, evarūpena javena samannāgato evarūpena ca padavītihārena, aññatreva asitapītakhāyitasāyitā aññatra uccārapassāvakammā aññatra niddākilamathapaṭivinodanā vassasatāyuko vassasatajīvī vassasataṁ gantvā appatvāva lokassa antaṁ antarāva kālaṅkato.

It’s incredible, sir, it’s amazing,

Acchariyaṁ, bhante, abbhutaṁ, bhante.

how well said this was by Master Gotama:

Yāvasubhāsitamidaṁ, bhante, bhagavatā:

‘Reverend, I say it’s not possible to know or see or reach the end of the world by traveling to a place where there’s no being born, growing old, dying, passing away, or being reborn.’”

‘yattha kho, āvuso, na jāyati na jīyati na mīyati na cavati na upapajjati, nāhaṁ taṁ gamanena lokassa antaṁ ñāteyyaṁ daṭṭheyyaṁ patteyyanti vadāmī’”ti.

“But Reverend, I also say there’s no making an end of suffering without reaching the end of the world.

“Na kho panāhaṁ, āvuso, appatvā lokassa antaṁ dukkhassa antakiriyaṁ vadāmi.

For it is in this fathom-long carcass with its perception and mind that I describe the world, its origin, its cessation, and the practice that leads to its cessation.

Api ca khvāhaṁ, āvuso, imasmiṁyeva byāmamatte kaḷevare sasaññimhi samanake lokañca paññapemi lokasamudayañca lokanirodhañca lokanirodhagāminiñca paṭipadanti.

The end of the world can never

Gamanena na pattabbo,

be reached by traveling.

lokassanto kudācanaṁ;

But without reaching the end of the world,

Na ca appatvā lokantaṁ,

there’s no release from suffering.

dukkhā atthi pamocanaṁ.

So a clever person, understanding the world,

Tasmā have lokavidū sumedho,

has completed the spiritual journey, and gone to the end of the world.

Lokantagū vusitabrahmacariyo;

A peaceful one, knowing the end of the world,

Lokassa antaṁ samitāvi ñatvā,

does not long for this world or the next.”

Nāsīsati lokamimaṁ parañcā”ti.