Read, reflect, pray
Sutta Nipāta 5-4: Puṇṇakamāṇavapucchā
Viggo Fausböll, 1881 · Historical English translation
1. ‘To him who is without desire, who has seen the root (of sin),’—so said the venerable Puṇṇaka,—‘I have come supplicatingly with a question: on account of what did the Isis and men, Khattiyas and Brāhmaṇas, offer sacrifices to the gods abundantly in this world? (about this) I ask thee, O Bhagavat, tell me this.’ (1042)
2. ‘All these Isis and men, Khattiyas and Brāhmaṇas, O Puṇṇaka,’—so said Bhagavat,—‘who offered sacrifices to the gods abundantly in this world, offered sacrifices, O Puṇṇaka, after reaching old age, wishing for their present condition.’ (1043)
3. ‘All these Isis and men, Khattiyas and Brāhmaṇas,’—so said the venerable Puṇṇaka,—‘who offered sacrifices to the gods abundantly in this world, did they, O Bhagavat, indefatigable in the way of offering, cross over both birth and old age, O venerable man? I ask thee, O Bhagavat, tell me this.’ (1044)
4. ‘They wished for, praised, desired, abandoned (sensual pleasures), O Puṇṇaka,’—so said Bhagavat,—‘they desired sensual pleasures on account of what they reached by them; they, devoted to offering, dyed with the passions of existence, did not cross over birth and old age, so I say.’ (1045)
5. ‘If they, devoted to offering,’—so said the venerable Puṇṇaka,—‘did not by offering cross over birth and old age, O venerable man, who then in the world of gods and men crossed over birth and old age, O venerable man, I ask thee, O Bhagavat, tell me this?’ (1046)
6. ‘Having considered everything in the world, O Puṇṇaka,’—so said Bhagavat,—‘he who is not defeated anywhere in the world, who is calm without the smoke of passions, free from woe, free from desire, he crossed over birth and old age, so I say.’ (1041)
Puṇṇakamāṇavapucchā 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.
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.