English
unwavering, fearless, unretreating, with fear and terror abandoned, with hairs standing on end gone, is Sakka. Doubt is called perplexity. Doubt about suffering, doubt about the origin of suffering, doubt about the cessation of suffering, doubt about the path leading to the cessation of suffering, doubt about the past, doubt about the future, doubt about the past and the future, doubt about dependent origination and dependently arisen phenomena. Such doubt, doubting, the state of having doubted, uncertainty, perplexity, being in two minds, being at a crossroads, suspicion, grasping at uncertainty, creeping, crawling, not comprehending, the wavering of the mind, mental defilement. "Release me, Sakka, from doubts!" means: Release me, free me, liberate me, deliver me, lift me up, raise me up, make me rise up from the dart of doubt. Thus, "Release me, Sakka, from doubts." Therefore, that brahmin said: "I see in the world of gods and humans, A brahmin without possessions, striving; To you, the all-seeing, I pay homage, Release me, Sakka, from doubts." 33. "I am not able to release, Any doubter, Dhotaka, in the world; But knowing the supreme Dhamma, Thus you will cross this flood." "I am not able to release" means: I am not able to release you, to free you, to liberate you, to deliver you, to lift you up, to raise you up, to make you rise up from the dart of doubt. Thus, "I am not able to release." Or, I do not strive, I do not endeavor, I do not exert myself, I do not make an effort, I do not make an exertion, I do not make a strong effort, I do not make a firm resolve, I do not make an effort, I do not generate desire, I do not produce, I do not bring forth, I do not manifest for faithless individuals, for those without desire, for the lazy, for those with weak energy, for those who do not practice the Dhamma teaching. Thus, "I am not able to release." Or, there is no other liberator. If they would liberate themselves by their own strength, by their own power, by their own energy, by their own exertion, by their own merit... with their own strength, with their own manly power, with their own manly energy, with their own manly effort, by practicing the right path, the agreeable path, the unopposing path, the meaningful path, the path in accordance with the Dhamma, they might be freed. Even so, I would not be able to free them. This was said by the Blessed One: "Indeed, Cunda, that one, himself sunk in mud, would pull out another sunk in mud – that is not possible. Indeed, Cunda, that one, himself untamed, undisciplined, unextinguished, would tame, discipline, and extinguish another – that is not possible." Even so, I would not be able to free them. This was said by the Blessed One: By oneself indeed is evil done, by oneself is one defiled; By oneself is evil not done, by oneself is one purified; Purity and impurity are individual, no one purifies another. Even so, I would not be able to free them. This was said by the Blessed One: "Just so, brahmin, Nibbāna exists, the path leading to Nibbāna exists, I exist as an instructor; yet some of my disciples, though thus advised and instructed by me, attain the ultimate Nibbāna, while others do not. What can I do here, brahmin? The Tathāgata, brahmin, is the proclaimer of the path. The Buddha points out the path. By practicing themselves, they might be freed." Even so, I would not be able to free them. "Dhotaka, anyone who is doubtful in the world" means a doubtful person, one with wavering, with hesitation, with perplexity, with uncertainty. "Anyone" means any noble, or brahmin, or merchant, or worker, or householder, or renunciant, or god, or human. "In the world" means in the world of woe... (etc.)... in the world of sense-spheres – "Dhotaka, anyone who is doubtful in the world." "And knowing the supreme Dhamma" means the supreme Dhamma is called the Deathless, Nibbāna. That which is the calming of all formations, the relinquishing of all attachments, the craving... Undecaying, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna. Knowing the best, the foremost, the excellent, the distinguished, the supreme, the noble Dhamma, understanding, comprehending, penetrating – knowing the best Dhamma. Thus you will cross this flood. Thus you would cross the flood of sensual desire, the flood of becoming, the flood of views, the flood of ignorance; you would overcome, you would surmount, you would transcend, you would pass beyond – Thus you will cross this flood. Therefore the Blessed One said: “I will not help to free any doubter in the world, O Dhotaka; But knowing the best Dhamma, thus you will cross this flood.” 34. “Instruct me, O Brahma, out of compassion, the Dhamma of seclusion, which I would know; So that I, like space, unmolested, may dwell here, unattached.” “Instruct me, O Brahma, out of compassion” means: Instruct me, O Brahma; favor me, O Brahma; pity me, O Brahma – Instruct me, O Brahma. “Out of compassion” means: being compassionate, being sympathetic, being protective, being helpful, being pitiful – Instruct me, O Brahma, out of compassion. “The Dhamma of seclusion, which I would know” means: The Dhamma of seclusion is called the Deathless, Nibbāna. That is the calming of all formations, the relinquishing of all attachments, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna. “Which I would know” means: which I would know, understand, comprehend, penetrate, realize, attain, experience, verify – the Dhamma of seclusion, which I would know. “So that I, like space, unmolested” means: Just as space is not produced, not grasped, not bound, not entangled, so too, not produced, not grasped, not bound, not entangled – thus, like space, unmolested. Just as space is not stained by lacquer, or turmeric, or indigo, or madder, so too, not stained, not defiled, not deluded, not afflicted. Thus, not soiled – even so, like space, not afflicted. Just as space does not get agitated, does not get afflicted, does not shrink back, is not struck, so not getting agitated, not getting afflicted, not shrinking back, not being struck, not being obstructed – even so, like space, not afflicted. "Being right here, unattached, one should wander." "Being right here" means being right here, existing right here, sitting right here, sitting on this very seat, sitting in this very assembly – even so, "being right here." Or alternatively, "being right here" means calmed, completely calmed, extinguished, fully tranquilized – even so, "being right here." "Unattached" means two supports: the support of craving and the support of views... this is the support of craving... this is the support of views... having abandoned the support of craving, having relinquished the support of views, not dependent on the eye, not dependent on the ear, not dependent on the nose, not dependent on the tongue, not dependent on the body, not dependent on the mind, on forms... on sounds... on smells... on tastes... on tangibles... on mental objects... on family... on groups... on dwelling... on gain... on fame... on praise... on pleasure... on robes... on almsfood... on lodging... on requisites for the sick, medicine... on the sense-sphere realm... on the form realm... on the formless realm... on existence in the sense-sphere... on existence in the form realm... on existence in the formless realm... on the realm of perception... on the realm of non-perception... on the realm of neither perception nor non-perception... on the one-constituent existence... on the four-constituent existence... on the five-constituent existence... on the past... on the future... on the present... on things seen, heard, sensed, and cognized – unattached, not dependent, not clinging, not approaching, not grasping, not obsessed, gone forth, released, completely liberated, disjoined, with a mind boundless. "One should wander" means one should wander, one should dwell, one should behave, one should conduct oneself, one should pass time, one should sustain life – "Being right here, unattached, one should wander." Therefore, that brahmin said – "Instruct me, O brahmin, being compassionate, the doctrine of seclusion which I may understand; So that I, like space, unharmed, dwelling right here, unattached, should wander. 35. I will proclaim to you peace, [Dhotaka, said the Blessed One] in this very life, without hearsay; knowing which, mindful, wandering, one crosses attachment in the world. "I will proclaim to you peace" means: the peace of passion, the peace of hatred, the peace of delusion, the peace of anger, of resentment... and so on... of contempt... of rivalry... of envy... of stinginess... of deceit... of treachery... of stubbornness... of arrogance... of conceit... of excessive pride... of intoxication... of heedlessness... of all defilements... of all misconducts... of all torments... of all fevers... of all distresses... of all unwholesome volitional formations. I will proclaim, I will declare, I will explain, I will teach, I will make known, I will establish, I will reveal, I will analyze, I will make clear, I will make manifest the peace, the tranquility, the utter peace, the nirvana, the appeasement. Thus – "I will proclaim to you peace." "Dhotaka, said the Blessed One." "Dhotaka, said the Blessed One" means the Blessed One addresses that brahmin by name. "Blessed One" is a term of respect... and so on... a true designation, namely, "Blessed One." Thus – "Dhotaka, said the Blessed One." "In this very life, without hearsay." "In this very life" means: in this very life, in the known life, in the weighed life, in the judged life, in the discerned life, in the understood life, "all formations are impermanent"... and so on... "whatever is of the nature to arise, all that is of the nature to cease." in this very life, in the known life, in the weighed life, in the judged life, in the understood life, in the discerned life. Thus also – "in this very life"... and so on... Or else, when suffering is seen,