“Hard to do, hard to endure, is the ascetic life for the inept, for it has many narrow passes where the fool founders.”
“How many days could an ascetic live without controlling the mind? They’d founder with each step, under the sway of thoughts.
A mendicant should collect their thoughts as a tortoise draws its limbs into its shell. Independent, not disturbing others, quenched: they wouldn’t blame anyone.”
Hard to Do
SN 1.17 · Dukkarasutta
Connections
Collection & context
- Saṃyutta NikāyaThe collection containing this text
- The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
- Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
- The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting
Recordings naming SN 1.17
- Bhante G's Sutta/Pali Series: Saṃyutta Nikaya 1.15-18Bhante Henepola Gunaratana · Reference in title
Books
- The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta NikāyaBhikkhu Bodhi; Bhikkhu Bodhi (translator) · Complete collection edition
- Handful of Leaves: an Anthology from the Sutta PiṭakaEarly Buddhist discourses; Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (translator and compiler) · Included in anthology
About this edition
Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0
This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.
Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.
The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.