Help | Home » Tipitaka » Sutta Pitaka » Khuddaka Nikaya » Sutta Nipata » Context of this sutta

Sutta Nipata I.1

Uraga Sutta

The Serpent

Translated from the Pali by Nyanaponika Thera.
For free distribution only.

Read an alternate translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

From The Worn-out Skin: Reflections on the Uraga Sutta (WH 241), translated by Nyanaponika Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1989). Copyright ©1989 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.


He who can curb his wrath
as soon as it arises,
as a timely antidote will check
snake's venom that so quickly spreads,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who entirely cuts off his lust
as entering a pond one uproots lotus plants,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who entirely cuts off his craving
by drying up its fierce and rapid flow,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who entirely blots out conceit
as the wind demolishes a fragile bamboo bridge,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who does not find core or substance
in any of the realms of being,
like flowers which are vainly sought
in fig trees that bear none,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who bears no grudges in his heart,
transcending all this "thus" and "otherwise,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who has burned out his evil thoughts,
entirely cut them off within his heart,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond, just as the
serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
entirely transcending the diffuseness of the world,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who neither goes too far nor lags behind
and knows about the world: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
greedless he knows: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
lust-free he knows: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
hate-free he knows: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
delusion-free he knows: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who has no dormant tendencies whatever,
whose unwholesome roots have been expunged,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

States born of anxiety he harbors none
which may condition his return to earth,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

States born of attachment he harbors none
which cause his bondage to existence,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

He who has the five hindrances discarded,
doubt-free and serene, and free of inner barbs,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.


Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-01a.html