“I see someone pure, perfectly healthy; it is vision that grants a person purity.” Recalling this notion of the ultimate, they believe in the notion that there is one who observes purity.
If a person were granted purity through what is seen, or if by a notion they could give up suffering, then one with attachments is purified by another: their view betrays them as one who asserts thus.
The brahmin speaks not of purity from another in terms of what has been seen, heard, or thought; or by precepts or vows. They are unsullied in the midst of good and evil, letting go what was picked up, without creating anything new here.
Having let go the last they lay hold of the next; following impulse, they don’t pass the chain. They grab on and let loose like a monkey grabbing and releasing a branch.
Having undertaken their own vows, a personage visits various teachers, being attached to perception. One who knows, having comprehended the truth through the knowledges, does not visit various teachers, being of vast wisdom.
They are remote from all things seen, heard, or thought. Seeing them living openly, how could anyone in this world judge them?
They don’t make things up or promote them, or speak of the uttermost purity. After untying the tight knot of grasping they long for nothing in the world.
The brahmin has stepped over the perimeter; knowing and seeing, they adopt nothing. Neither in love with passion nor besotted by dispassion, there is nothing here they adopt as the ultimate.
Eight on the Pure
Snp 4.4 · Suddhaṭṭhakasutta
Connections
Collection & context
- Sutta NipātaThe 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
Books
- The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early TeachingsGil Fronsdal (translator and commentator) · Translation & commentary
- Handful of Leaves: an Anthology from the Sutta PiṭakaEarly Buddhist discourses; Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (translator and compiler) · Included in anthology
- On the Path: An Anthology on the Noble Eightfold Path drawn from the Pāli CanonṬhānissaro Bhikkhu · Referenced in this book
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.