THE CHAPTER OF THE FIVES
[V-193]
The Five Hindrances
On one occasion the brahmin Sangarava approached the
Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him. When they had concluded their
greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and said to the Blessed
One:
"Master Gotama, what is the cause and reason why
sometimes even those hymns that have been
recited over a long period do not recur to the mind,
let alone those that have not been recited? What is the cause and reason why sometimes those hymns that have not been
recited over a long period recur to the
mind, let alone those that have been recited?" [35]
(i) Why the hymns are not remembered
"Brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed and
oppressed by sensual lust, and one does not understand as it really is
the escape from arisen sensual lust, on
that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really
is one's own good, or the good of others, or the good of both. [36]
Then even those hymns that have been recited over a long
period do not recur to the mind, let
alone those that have not been recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water mixed
with lac, turmeric, blue dye or crimson dye.
If a man with good sight were to examine his own
facial reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed and
oppressed by sensual lust ... on
that occasion even those hymns that have been recited
over a long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those that have not been recited.
"Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind
obsessed and oppressed by ill will,
and one does not understand as it really is the escape
from arisen ill will, on that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really is one's own good ... let alone those that
have not been recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water being
heated over a fire, bubbling and boiling. If a
man with good sight were to examine his own facial
reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed and
oppressed by ill will ... let alone
those that have not been recited.
"Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind
obsessed and oppressed by sloth and torpor, and one does not understand
as it really is the escape from arisen
sloth and torpor, on that occasion one neither knows
nor sees as it really is one's own good ... let alone those that have not been recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water covered
over with water plants and algae. If a man
with good sight were to examine his own facial reflection
in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed and
oppressed by sloth and torpor ... let alone
those that have not been recited.
"Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind
obsessed and oppressed by restlessness
and worry, and one does not understand as it really
is the escape from arisen restlessness and worry, on that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really is one's own good
... let alone those that have not been
recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water stirred
by the wind, rippling, swirling, churned into wavelets. If a man with good
sight were to examine his own facial
reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a
mind obsessed and oppressed by
restlessness and worry ... let alone those that have not been recited.
"Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind
obsessed and oppressed by doubt, and one does not understand as it
really is the escape from arisen doubt, on that
occasion one neither knows nor sees as it
really is
one's own good ... let alone those that have not been recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water that is
turbid, unsettled, muddy, placed in the dark.
If a man with good sight were to examine his own
facial reflection in it, he would neither know nor see it as it really is, So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind obsessed and
oppressed by doubt, and one does not
understand as it really is the escape from
arisen doubt,
on that occasion one neither knows nor sees as it really is one's own good, or the good of others, or the good of
both. Then even those hymns that have been
recited over a long period do not recur to the mind,
let alone those that have not been recited.
"This, brahmin, is the cause and reason why even
those hymns that have been recited over a
long period do not recur to the mind, let alone those
that have not been recited.
(ii) Why the hymns are remembered
"Brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is not
obsessed and oppressed by sensual
lust, and one understands as it really is the escape from arisen sensual lust, on that occasion one knows and
sees as it really is one's own good, and the
good of others, and the good of both. Then
even those
hymns that have not been recited over a long period recur to the mind, let alone those that have been recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water not
mixed with lac, turmeric, blue dye or
crimson dye. If a man with good sight were to examine
his own facial reflection in it, he would know and see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind
that is not obsessed and oppressed by
sensual lust ... on that occasion even those hymns
that have not been recited over a long period recur to the mind, let alone those that have been recited.
"Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is
not obsessed and oppressed by ill
will, and one understands as it really is the escape from arisen ill will, on that occasion one knows and sees
as it really is one's own good ... let
alone those that have been recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water not
heated over a fire, not bubbling, not boiling. If
a man with good sight were to examine his own facial
reflection in it, he would know and see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is not obsessed
and oppressed by ill will ...
let alone those that have been recited.
"Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is
not obsessed and oppressed by sloth
and torpor, and one understands as it really is the escape from arisen sloth and torpor, on that occasion
one knows and sees as it really is
one's own good ... let alone those that have been recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water not
covered over with water plants and algae. If
a man with good sight were to examine his own facial
reflection in it, he would know and see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is not obsessed
and oppressed by sloth and
torpor ... let alone those that have been recited.
"Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is
not obsessed and oppressed by restlessness
and worry, and one understands as it really is
the escape from arisen restlessness and worry, on that occasion one knows and sees as it really is one's own good ... let
alone those that have been recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water not
stirred by the wind, without ripples, without
swirls, not churned into wavelets. If a man with good
sight were to examine his own facial reflection in it, he would know and see it as it really is. So too, brahmin, when one
dwells with a mind that is not obsessed by
restlessness and worry ... let alone those that have been recited.
"Again, brahmin, when one dwells with a mind that is
not obsessed and oppressed by doubt,
and one understands as it really is the escape from
arisen doubt, on that occasion one knows and sees as it really is one's own good ... let alone those that have been
recited.
"Suppose, brahmin, there is a bowl of water that is
clear, serene, limpid, placed in the
light. If a man with good sight were to examine his own facial reflection in it, he would know and see it as
it really is. So too, brahmin, when one dwells
with a mind that is not obsessed by doubt,
and one
understands as it really is the escape from arisen doubt, on that occasion one knows and sees as it really is one's own
good, and the good of others, and the good of
both. Then even those hymns that have not
been recited
over a long period recur to the mind, let alone those that have been recited.
"This, brahmin, is the cause and reason why even
those hymns that have not been recited over
a long period recur to the mind, let alone those that
have been recited."
"Excellent, Master Gotama!... Let Master Gotama
accept me as a lay follower who has gone for
refuge from today until life's end."
(V,193)
Footnotes:
[35] A brahmin by this name was encountered in Text 34. As would be typical for a brahmin, he inquires with reference to the manta, the mantras or hymns of the Vedas, but the Buddha replies with reference to "one's own good and the good of others", which, in the highest sense, is the attainment of arahantship.
The five obstructive factors here are the five hindrances. An almost identical sutta is at SN 46:55, but with an additional paragraph on the seven factors of enlightenment.
[36] AA explains the escape for each of the hindrances by way of two kinds of escape, the temporary "escape by suppression" {vikkhambhana-nissaram) and the permanent "escape by eradication" {samuccheda-nissarana}.
Thus for sensual lust the first jhana based on a foul object is the escape by suppression, the path of arahantship the escape by eradication (sensual lust being taken to represent all unwholesome desire).
For ill will, the first jhana based on loving-kindness is the escape by suppression, the path of non-returning the escape by eradication.
For sloth and torpor, the perception of light is the escape by suppression (see Text 59), the path of arahantship the escape by eradication.
For restlessness and worry, any tranquillity meditation is the escape by suppression; the path of arahantship is the escape from restlessness by eradication, the path of non-returning the escape from worry.
For doubt, the discrimination of phenomena (dhamma-vavatthana) is the escape by suppression, the path of stream-entry the escape by eradication.