English
For five-lined or six-lined stanzas, the first line is the beginning, the last line is the end, the rest are the middle. For a Sutta with a single theme, the introduction is the beginning, “thus he spoke” is the end, the rest is the middle. For a Sutta with many themes, even many themes in the middle are the middle, the introduction is the beginning, “thus he spoke” is the end. “With meaning” means: Teach it having made it meaningful. “With the letter” means: Teach it having made it full with expressions and words. “Completely perfect” means: Wholly perfect. “Pure” means: Without defilement. “Holy life” means: The holy life of the teaching, comprising the three trainings. “Proclaim” means: Make known. “Of little dust in their eyes” means: Beings whose nature is of little defilement-dust in the eye of wisdom, who are capable of attaining Arahatship at the end of a four-lined stanza, like those covered by a fine cloth, such beings exist—this is the meaning. “Will decline” means: They will decline from the Dhamma due to loss of gain. Therefore, it is said: “Not attaining what has not been attained, they decline from the attainment of distinction.” “Senānigama” means: A town of the army. It is said that in that place there was an encampment of the army of the first people. Therefore, that area is called “Senānigama.” "Senānigāmo" is also a reading. Senāni is the name of Sujātā's father. The meaning is his village. "I will approach them" means: I will not dwell having sent you forth, having built monasteries and so on, being served by attendants and so on. But I will approach to teach the Dhamma itself, having shown two and a half thousand miracles to the three ascetics. Māra, the Evil One: Māra means he kills beings intent on transgressing his domain. Pāpimā means he enjoins others in evil, or he himself is engaged in evil. He has many other names: Kaṇha, Overlord, Controller, Ender, Namuci, Friend of the heedless, and so on. Here, only two names are taken. He approached: Thinking, "This ascetic Gotama, as if planning a great battle, sends forth sixty people saying, 'Let not two go by one way, teach the Dhamma.' But when even one of them teaches the Dhamma, there is no peace in my mind. How will it be when many teach? I will obstruct him!" Having thought this, he approached. "From all snares": from all defilement-snares. "Those that are divine, and those that are human": He says, "You are bound by all those defilement-snares that are called divine sense-pleasures and human sense-pleasures." "Bound by a great bond": bound by a great bond of defilement, or bound in a great bond, meaning bound in the prison of existence, which is the place of the defilement-bond. "You will not be freed from me, ascetic": Ascetic, you will not be freed from my domain. And this "You will not be freed from me, ascetic" is spoken by Māra, disbelieving the Blessed One's words, "I am freed, monks, from all snares." Or, even if believing, he speaks, standing in a deceitful manner, threatening, "May this one not strive for the liberation of other beings." "Struck down": You are struck down by me, meaning you are brought to a state of non-enjoyment, defeated. "Wanderer in the sky": He binds even those with five supernormal powers who wander in the sky, therefore he is a wanderer in the sky. Indeed, the snare of lust is effective even for those who wander in the sky, therefore "wanderer in the sky". is called 'o', therefore even Māra thinks him a sky-walker. Born in the mind, thus 'mental'; connected with the mind, that is the meaning. The rest here is clear in meaning. The description of the Māra story is finished. The description of the going forth and full ordination story 34. Now, concerning the Pāli text beginning with "Monks, I allow," the determination of going forth and full ordination that should be stated, to show that in detail, it says, "when ordaining a young man seeking ordination," and so on. There, the connection is with "which persons are prohibited." "He should ordain himself" means he should ordain by performing the hair-cutting and so on himself. Indeed, performing these three: hair-cutting, donning the saffron robes, and giving the refuges, is called "ordaining." Even performing one or two of these, he is still so designated. Therefore, "ordain him" refers to hair-cutting and donning the saffron robes. The same method applies here to "he ordains for the preceptor." "Having led him to a broken boundary" is said to avoid announcing the tonsure. Therefore, in a monastery with monks, it is not proper to say to another, "Cut his hair." "Having ordained" refers to hair-cutting. "No one other than a monk may ordain" refers to giving the refuges. Therefore it says, "But a novice," and so on. "Of suitable form" means of suitable nature. That same meaning is explained in another way as "with a cause." "Known" means evident. "Famous" means endowed with a retinue. By way of color, shape, smell, abode, and location, the connection is with "making manifest the impure, repulsive, and loathsome nature." There, these hairs are repulsive by color, by shape, by smell, by abode, and by location. Indeed, even in a pleasant gruel bowl or a food bowl, seeing something of the color of hair, people are disgusted, saying, "This is mixed with hair, take it away!" Thus, hairs are repulsive by color. Even eating at night, if a hair-like shape or a worm-like shape or having touched a dead civet cat, they are disgusted in the same way; thus, they are repulsive in form. And the smell of hair, devoid of the preparations of oil, flowers, and incense, is extremely disgusting; even more disgusting when thrown into fire. Hair, though not repulsive in color and form, is repulsive in smell. Just as the feces of a young child, yellow in color, and like a lump of turmeric in form. And the body of a bloated black dog, discarded in a rubbish heap, is the color of a ripe palm fruit, and in form like a drum rolled and released, and its fangs are like jasmine buds; both of these might not be repulsive in color and form, but they are repulsive in smell. Thus, hair might not be repulsive in color and form, but it is repulsive in smell. Just as edible leaves grown in an unclean place by the village drain are disgusting to city dwellers and not consumed, so too, hair, being born from the discharge of pus, blood, urine, feces, bile, phlegm, etc., is extremely disgusting; thus, it is repulsive in origin. And this hair, born in the mass of thirty-one constituents like an ear of grain risen in a heap of dung, is extremely disgusting, being born in an unclean place, like vegetables grown in a charnel ground or rubbish heap, or like lotus and water-lily flowers grown in ditches; thus, it is repulsive in location. This is the meaning of explaining the repulsiveness of the five parts of the skin in terms of color, etc. Or making clear their lifeless and insentient nature: this hair is born on the skin that covers the skull. There, just as the ant-hill top does not know, "weeds have grown on me," nor do the weeds know, "we have grown on the ant-hill top," even so, the skin covering the skull does not know, "hair has grown on me," nor does the hair know, "we have grown on the skin covering the skull." Mutually These phenomena are devoid of reflective consideration. Thus, hair, in this body, is a distinct part, unconscious, indeterminate, empty, without life, stiff, of the earth element, and so on, in this manner, showing its lifeless and soulless nature. "Pubbe" means in the presence of former Buddhas. "Madditasaṅkhāro" means a conditioned formation crushed by knowledge, through the discernment of mind-and-matter and the comprehension of conditions. "Bhāvitabhāvano" means one whose development has been cultivated, by completely fulfilling wholesome development, such as by contemplating aggregates. In "Adinnaṃ na vaṭṭati" (what is not given is not allowable), they say that ordination does not take root. "Anuññātaupasampadā" means an ordination permitted by a ñatti-caturthakamma. In "ṭhānakaraṇasampadā" (perfection of posture and action), it should be understood that "ṭhānāni" are postures like standing, and "karaṇāni" are actions like being restrained. To show that they should be given without interruption during the time of giving, making them end in a nasal sound, it is said "ekasambandhānī" (connected as one). "Vicchinditvā" means having made it end in 'm' and having made an interruption at the time of giving. All allowable and unallowable things should be explained to him, meaning the allowable and unallowable, distinguished by what is to be touched and not to be touched, etc., apart from the ten precepts. "He should be trained in the rules of conduct" means that by this, the moral conduct of good behavior, such as the sekhiya rules and duties towards the preceptor, should be fulfilled, and it indicates that in that context, if what should be done is not done, or what should not be done is done, one is liable to punishment. The commentary on the discourse of going forth and full ordination is concluded. Commentary on the Second Discourse of Māra 35. Now, this is the commentary on the unusual words in the Pāli text beginning with "Then the Blessed One, having finished the rainy season..." "Yonisomanasikāra" means by skillful attention, that is, by attending to impermanence, etc., as impermanence, etc. "Yoniso sammappadhāna" means by skillful effort, that is, by effort that proceeds according to the method of preventing unarisen unwholesome states from arising, and so on. "Vimutti" (liberation) refers to the liberation of Arahantship, indicated by the highest designation. "Ajjhabhāsī" (he addressed) means [Māra thought]: "This one, having made effort and attained Arahantship, is still not satisfied; now he encourages others too, saying 'attain it!' I will obstruct him." or spoke. By Māra's snare: means by the snare of defilements.