Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Read, reflect, pray

Sutta Nipāta 4-5: Paramaṭṭhakasutta

Viggo Fausböll, 1881 · Historical English translation

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1. What one person, abiding by the (philosophical) views, saying, ‘This is the most excellent,’ considers the highest in the world, everything different from that he says is wretched, therefore he has not overcome dispute. (796)

2. Because he sees in himself a good result, with regard to what has been seen (or) heard, virtue and (holy) works, or what has been thought, therefore, having embraced that, he looks upon everything else as bad. (797)

3. The expert call just that a tie dependent upon which one looks upon anything else as bad. Therefore let a Bhikkhu not depend upon what is seen, heard, or thought, or upon virtue and (holy) works. (798)

4. Let him not form any (philosophical) view in this world, either by knowledge or by virtue and (holy) works, let him not represent himself equal (to others), nor think himself either low or distinguished. (799)

5. Having left what has been grasped, not seizing upon anything he does not depend even on knowledge. He does not associate with those that are taken up by different things, he does not return to any (philosophical) view. (800)

6. For whom there is here no desire for both ends, for reiterated existence either here or in another world, for him there are no resting-places (of the mind) embraced after investigation amongst the doctrines (dhammesu). (801)

7. ln him there is not the least prejudiced idea with regard to what has been seen, heard, or thought; how could any one in this world alter such a Brāhmaṇa who does not adopt any view? (802)

8. They do not form (any view), they do not prefer (anything), the Dhammas are not chosen by them, a Brāhmaṇa is not dependent upon virtue and (holy) works; having gone to the other shore, such a one does not return. (803)

Paramaṭṭhakasutta is ended.

Translation, numbering and rights

Viggo Fausböll, 1881. Public-domain 1881 translation, from the free non-commercial EPUB distributed by Reading Faithfully (edition 1.0, February 2012), transcribed by Christopher M. Weimer for the Internet Sacred Text Archive. This reader is free and non-commercial. Pali diacritics follow the EPUB. Translator introductions and footnotes are omitted; discourse prose, verses and the concluding passages are retained.

This 1881 edition uses consecutive verse numbers ending at 1148. It differs from the Japanese edition and must not be aligned by verse number alone. The final reading includes the concluding praises and Piṅgiya’s dialogue. The source’s printed numbering is retained, including gaps. A repeated “1041” in the source is retained; the expected “1047” is not silently substituted. No verse text is supplied by guesswork.

Source edition and download

This historical English translation uses older vocabulary. It is independent of the Japanese translation linked from this site. The Japanese edition’s translator and license are credited there.