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Linked Discourses · SN 9.9

  • Linked Discourses 9.9Saṁyutta Nikāya 9.9
  • 1. In the Woods1. Vanavagga

A VajjiVajjiputtasutta

At one time a certain Vajjian mendicant was staying near Vesālī in a certain forest grove.Ekaṁ samayaṁ aññataro vajjiputtako bhikkhu vesāliyaṁ viharati aññatarasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe.

Now at that time the Vajjis were holding an all-night event in Vesālī.Tena kho pana samayena vesāliyaṁ vajjiputtako sabbaratticāro hoti. Then that mendicant, complaining at the noise of musical instruments being beaten and played, on that occasion spoke this verse:Atha kho so bhikkhu vesāliyā tūriyatāḷitavāditanigghosasaddaṁ sutvā paridevamāno tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ gāthaṁ abhāsi:

“We dwell alone in the wilderness,“Ekakā mayaṁ araññe viharāma, like a log dumped in the forest.Apaviddhaṁva vanasmiṁ dārukaṁ; On a night like this,Etādisikāya rattiyā, who’s worse off than me?”Ko su nāmamhehi pāpiyo”ti.

The deity haunting that forest had sympathy for that mendicant, and wanted what’s best for them. So they approached that mendicant wanting to stir them up, and addressed them in verse:Atha kho yā tasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe adhivatthā devatā tassa bhikkhuno anukampikā atthakāmā taṁ bhikkhuṁ saṁvejetukāmā yena so bhikkhu tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā taṁ bhikkhuṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

“You dwell alone in the wilderness,“Ekakova tvaṁ araññe viharasi, like a log dumped in the forest.Apaviddhaṁva vanasmiṁ dārukaṁ; Lots of people are jealous of you,Tassa te bahukā pihayanti, like beings in hell of those going to heaven.”Nerayikā viya saggagāminan”ti.

Impelled by that deity, that mendicant was struck with a sense of urgency.Atha kho so bhikkhu tāya devatāya saṁvejito saṁvegamāpādīti.

Similar passages elsewhere

Found by meaning, not by citation: the passages in other texts whose wording sits closest to a passage here.

  1. Thag 1.62 Vajjiputta (1st) 0.53near 0.1Verses of the Senior Monks 1.62 The Book of the Ones Chapter Seven Vajjiputta (1st) We dwell alone in the wilderness, like a log dumped in a forest. Lots of people are jealous of me, as beings in hell are of one going to…
  2. SN 9.4 Several Mendicants Set Out Wandering 0.52near 0.1Linked Discourses 9.4 1. In the Woods Several Mendicants Set Out Wandering At one time several mendicants were staying in the land of the Kosalans in a certain forest grove. Then after completing the three months of the…