Buddham Dhammam

Rathopamasutta

SN 35.239

The Simile of the Chariot

When a mendicant has three qualities they live happily: sense restraint, moderation in eating, and wakefulness.

Translations

Kummopamasutta

SN 35.240

The Simile of the Tortoise

A parable of a jackal who fails to eat a tortoise who stays still, with limbs retracted, like a mendicant guarding the senses.

Translations

Paṭhamadārukkhandhopamasutta

SN 35.241

The Simile of the Tree Trunk (1st)

The Buddha gives a parable of a large log floating downstream, which, if it steers clear of the many obstacles, will eventually reach the ocean. A mendicant asks for an explanation, and the Buddha clarifies each item. A cowherd...

Translations

Dutiyadārukkhandhopamasutta

SN 35.242

The Simile of the Tree Trunk (2nd)

The Buddha gives a parable of a large log floating downstream, which, if it steers clear of the many obstacles, will eventually reach the ocean. Venerable Kimbila asks for an explanation, and the Buddha clarifies each item.

Translations

Avassutapariyāyasutta

SN 35.243

The Explanation on the Festering

The Buddha is invited to teach in a new hall in Kapilavatthu. Late at night, after teaching the Sakyans, the Buddha invites Moggallāna to teach. He speaks on the mental corruption that flows from attachment to the senses.

Translations

Dukkhadhammasutta

SN 35.244

Entailing Suffering

The Buddha defines the things that entail suffering as the five aggregates, and urges mendicants to be free of desire for the six senses, giving a series of vivid similes. He then speaks of how even for a mendicant practicing...

Translations

Kiṁsukopamasutta

SN 35.245

The Simile of the Parrot Tree

A mendicant goes to a series of teachers and asks how vision is purified. Dissatisfied with all their answers, he complains to the Buddha, who illustrates his quandary with the famous simile of the Kiṁsuka tree. Just as the same...

Translations

Vīṇopamasutta

SN 35.246

The Simile of the Harp

One should restrain the senses like a farmer watching over a field. The Buddha gives the parable of a man bewitched when he first hears a lute. He takes apart the instrument in search of the sound, but is disillusioned when no...

Translations

Chappāṇakopamasutta

SN 35.247

The Simile of Six Animals

The senses are like a snake, a crocodile, a bird, a dog, a jackal, and a monkey all tied up together, pulling this way and that. Mindfulness is like a post that keeps them grounded.

Translations

Yavakalāpisutta

SN 35.248

The Sheaf of Barley

The six senses are like a sheaf of barley struck with six flails; and the desire for rebirth is a seventh flail. The Buddha goes on to speak of the cunning trap of the gods; but the trap of Māra, conceit, is even more subtle.

Translations