SN 13.3

Sambhejjaudaka sutta: Where the Waters Join Together

Sambhejjaudakasutta

Abhisamayavagga

For someone who has seen the truth, the suffering eliminated is like the water at the confluence of great rivers; what remains is like a few drops.

Traduceri

At Sāvatthī.

“Mendicants, there are places where the great rivers—the Ganges, Yamunā, Aciravatī, Sarabhū, and Mahī—join together and converge. Suppose a person was to draw two or three drops of water from such a place.

The Ganges (Pali gaṅgā) is the greatest river of India. Arising far to the west in Uttarakhand, it flows 2,525 km, emptying into the Bay of Bengal in Banfgladesh. The other rivers mentioned here are all its tributaries. Yamunā is a major southern tributary of the Ganges, joining it at Payāga. Aciravatī is today the West Rapti, on whose banks Sāvatthī was located. Winding down from Nepal, it joins the Sarabhū to the north west of the confluence with the Ganges, in or near the land of the Kālāmas. Sarabhū (Sanskrit sarayū) is the modern Gaghara, one of the largest northern tributaries of the Ganges, joining it west of Pāṭaliputta, modern Patna. Mahī is the modern Kosi, which flows from Tibet through Nepal to join the Ganges in Aṅga, east of Pāṭaliputta around modern Kursela. Also at SN 56.53.

What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the two or three drops drawn out or the water in the confluence?”

“Sir, the water in the confluence is certainly more. The two or three drops drawn out are tiny. Compared to the water in the confluence, it’s not nearly a hundredth, a thousandth, or a hundred thousandth part.”

“In the same way, for a noble disciple, the suffering that’s over and done with is more …”

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Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0

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