Shorter Discourse to Māluṅkyaputta / Cūḷamāluṅkya Sutta
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it is not an autographed composition date or manuscript date.","GeoCards":[{"Label":"Region","Key":"Region:2"},{"Label":"Terra Avita","Key":"TerraAvita:9"},{"Label":"Terra Avita Region","Key":"TerraAvitaRegion:37"},{"Label":"Modern Country","Key":"Country:NPL:9"}],"OriginalTitle":"Cūḷamāluṅkya Sutta","Language":"Pāli","DisciplineCards":[{"Label":"Primary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:metaphysics"},{"Label":"Secondary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:epistemology"}],"Tradition":"Early Buddhism, Nikaya/Agama transmission, śramaṇa debate, Middle Way teaching, dependent arising, not-self, awakening, liberation, monastic discipline, meditation, ethics, and Buddhist philosophical reception","FullText":{"Title":"Full Text","Copy":"Full text from SuttaCentral: MN 63 Culamalunkya Sutta .","Url":"","Label":"","Kicker":"","Cards":[]},"CoreThesis":["The discourse uses the poisoned-arrow simile to show why liberation does not depend on settling speculative questions that do not conduce to the end of suffering."],"Classification":{"AlternateTitles":"MN 63; Cula-Malunkyaputta Sutta; Shorter Discourse to Malunkyaputta; Poisoned Arrow","KeyConcepts":"MN 63; Cula-Malunkyaputta Sutta; Shorter Discourse to Malunkyaputta; Poisoned Arrow","Methodology":"Early Buddhist oral-discourse transmission, canonical sutta framing, dialogue, simile, causal explanation, ethical testing, meditative instruction, and liberation-oriented argument.","Structure":"Early Buddhist discourse page keyed to a teaching-sequence proxy year; no autographed treatise is asserted."},"Arguments":["The discourse uses the poisoned-arrow simile to show why liberation does not depend on settling speculative questions that do not conduce to the end of suffering."],"Influence":{"InfluencedBy":"","InfluenceOn":""},"Significance":["Accepted as a transmitted discourse because it is a compact canonical source for the Buddha\u0027s practical handling of speculative questions.","Remains central to ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, meditation studies, and comparative accounts of self, suffering, action, and liberation."],"EvidenceNote":["Accepted as a transmitted discourse because it is a compact canonical source for the Buddha\u0027s practical handling of speculative questions."],"MainSections":[{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Versions","BodyHtml":"\u003cdiv class=\"dz-philo__full-version-grid\"\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-version-card\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"dz-philo__full-version-provider\"\u003eSuttaCentral\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003ch3 class=\"dz-philo__full-version-title\"\u003eMN 63 Culamalunkya Sutta\u003c/h3\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"dz-philo__full-version-meta\"\u003eHtmlText · LinkOnlyReady\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003ca class=\"dz-philo__full-version-link\" href=\"https://suttacentral.net/mn63/en/sujato\"\u003eOpen full version\u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/article\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e"},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Core Thesis","Paragraphs":["The discourse uses the poisoned-arrow simile to show why liberation does not depend on settling speculative questions that do not conduce to the end of suffering."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Classification","Fields":[{"Label":"Alternate Titles","Value":"MN 63; Cula-Malunkyaputta Sutta; Shorter Discourse to Malunkyaputta; Poisoned Arrow"},{"Label":"Key Concepts","Value":"MN 63; Cula-Malunkyaputta Sutta; Shorter Discourse to Malunkyaputta; Poisoned Arrow"},{"Label":"Methodology","Value":"Early Buddhist oral-discourse transmission, canonical sutta framing, dialogue, simile, causal explanation, ethical testing, meditative instruction, and liberation-oriented argument."},{"Label":"Structure","Value":"Early Buddhist discourse page keyed to a teaching-sequence proxy year; no autographed treatise is asserted."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Arguments","Paragraphs":["The discourse uses the poisoned-arrow simile to show why liberation does not depend on settling speculative questions that do not conduce to the end of suffering."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Influence","Fields":[{"Label":"Influenced By","Value":""},{"Label":"Influence On","Value":""}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Significance","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a transmitted discourse because it is a compact canonical source for the Buddha\u0027s practical handling of speculative questions.","Remains central to ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, meditation studies, and comparative accounts of self, suffering, action, and liberation."]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Evidence Note","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a transmitted discourse because it is a compact canonical source for the Buddha\u0027s practical handling of speculative questions."]},{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Text","BodyHtml":"\u003cp class=\"dz-philo__section-copy dz-philo__full-text-source\"\u003eFull text from \u003ca href=\"https://suttacentral.net/mn63/en/sujato\"\u003eSuttaCentral: MN 63 Culamalunkya Sutta\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-text-body\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSo I have heard. \u003c/span\u003e\r\nAt one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen as Venerable Māluṅkyaputta was in private retreat this thought came to his mind: \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“There are several convictions that the Buddha has left undeclared; he has set them aside and turned them down. \r\nFor example: the cosmos is eternal, or not eternal, or finite, or infinite; the soul and the body are one and the same, or the soul is one thing, the body another; after death, a realized one still exists, or no longer exists, or both still exists and no longer exists, or neither still exists nor no longer exists. \r\nThe Buddha does not explain these points to me. \r\nI don’t endorse that, and do not accept it. \r\nI’ll go to him and ask him about this. \r\nIf he gives me a straight answer on any of these points, \r\n\r\n\r\nI will lead the spiritual life under him. \r\nIf he does not explain these points to me, \r\n\r\n\r\nI shall disavow the training and return to a lesser life.” \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThen in the late afternoon, Māluṅkyaputta came out of retreat and went to the Buddha. He bowed, sat down to one side, and told the Buddha of his thoughts. He then continued: \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n“If the Buddha knows \r\nthat the cosmos is eternal, please tell me. \r\nIf you know \r\nthat the cosmos is not eternal, tell me. \r\nIf you don’t know \r\nwhether the cosmos is eternal or not, then it is straightforward to simply say: \r\n‘I neither know nor see.’ \r\nIf you know \r\nthat the cosmos is finite, \r\n\r\nor infinite; \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nthat the soul and the body are one and the same, \r\n\r\nor is the soul one thing, the body another; \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nthat after death, a realized one still exists, \r\n\r\nor no longer exists, \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nor both still exists and no longer exists, or neither still exists nor no longer exists, please tell me. \r\n\r\n\r\nIf you don’t know \r\nany of these things, then it is straightforward to simply say: \r\n‘I neither know nor see.’” \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“What, Māluṅkyaputta, did I ever say to you: \r\n‘Come, Māluṅkyaputta, lead the spiritual life under me, and I will declare these things to you’?” \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“No, sir.” \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“Or did you ever say to me: \r\n‘Sir, I will lead the spiritual life under the Buddha, and the Buddha will declare these things to me’?” \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“No, sir.” \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e“So it seems that I did not say to you: \r\n‘Come, Māluṅkyaputta, lead the spiritual life under me, and I will declare these things to you.’ \r\n\r\n\r\nAnd you never said to me: \r\n‘Sir, I will lead the spiritual life under the Buddha, and the Buddha will declare these things to me.’ \r\n\r\n\r\nIn that case, you futile man, who are you and what do you want to disavow? \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuppose someone were to say this: \r\n‘I will not lead the spiritual life under the Buddha until the Buddha declares to me \r\nthat the cosmos is eternal, or that the cosmos is not eternal … \r\nor that after death a realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists.’ \r\nThat would still remain undeclared by the Realized One, and meanwhile that individual would die. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuppose a man was struck by an arrow thickly smeared with poison. \r\nHis friends and colleagues, relatives and kin would get a surgeon to treat him. \r\nBut the man would say: \r\n‘I won’t extract this arrow as long as I don’t know whether the man who wounded me was an aristocrat, a brahmin, a peasant, or a menial.’ \r\nHe’d say: \r\n‘I won’t extract this arrow as long as I don’t know the following things about the man who wounded me: his name and clan; \r\n\r\nwhether he’s tall, short, or medium; \r\n\r\nwhether his skin is black, brown, or dingy; \r\n\r\nand what village, town, or city he comes from. \r\n\r\nI won’t extract this arrow as long as I don’t know whether the bow that wounded me was straight or recurved; \r\n\r\nwhether the bow-string is made of swallow-wort fibre, sunn hemp fibre, sinew, sanseveria fibre, or spurge fibre; \r\n\r\nwhether the shaft is made from a bush or a plantation tree; \r\n\r\nwhether the shaft was fitted with feathers from a vulture, a heron, a hawk, a peacock, or a stork; \r\n\r\nwhether the shaft was bound with sinews of a cow, a buffalo, a black lion, or an ape; \r\n\r\nand whether the arrowhead was spiked, razor-tipped, barbed, made of iron or a calf’s tooth, or lancet-shaped.’ \r\nThat man would still not have learned these things, and meanwhile they’d die. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the same way, suppose someone was to say: \r\n‘I will not lead the spiritual life under the Buddha until the Buddha declares to me \r\nthat the cosmos is eternal, or that the cosmos is not eternal … \r\nor that after death a realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists.’ \r\nThat would still remain undeclared by the Realized One, and meanwhile that individual would die. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s not true that if there were the view ‘the cosmos is eternal’ there would be the living of the spiritual life. \r\nIt’s not true that if there were the view ‘the cosmos is not eternal’ there would be the living of the spiritual life. \r\nWhen there is the view that the cosmos is eternal or that the cosmos is not eternal, there is rebirth, there is old age, there is death, and there is sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. \r\nAnd it is the defeat of these things in this very life that I advocate. \r\nIt’s not true that if there were the view ‘the cosmos is finite’ … \r\n‘the cosmos is infinite’ … \r\n\r\n\r\n‘the soul and the body are one and the same’ … \r\n‘the soul is one thing, the body another’ … \r\n\r\n\r\n‘a realized one still exists after death’ … \r\n‘A realized one no longer exists after death’ … \r\n\r\n\r\n‘a realized one both still exists and no longer exists after death’ … \r\n‘a realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists after death’ there would be the living of the spiritual life. \r\nWhen there are any of these views there is rebirth, there is old age, there is death, and there is sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. \r\nAnd it is the defeat of these things in this very life that I advocate. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo, Māluṅkyaputta, you should remember what I have not declared as undeclared, \r\nand what I have declared as declared. \r\nAnd what have I not declared? \r\nI have not declared the following: ‘the cosmos is eternal,’ \r\n‘the cosmos is not eternal,’ \r\n\r\n‘the cosmos is finite,’ \r\n\r\n‘the world is infinite,’ \r\n\r\n‘the soul and the body are one and the same,’ \r\n\r\n‘the soul is one thing, the body another,’ \r\n\r\n‘a realized one still exists after death,’ \r\n\r\n‘A realized one no longer exists after death,’ \r\n\r\n‘a realized one both still exists and no longer exists after death,’ \r\n\r\n‘a realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists after death.’ \r\n\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd why haven’t I declared these things? \r\nBecause they aren’t beneficial or relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They don’t lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment. \r\nThat’s why I haven’t declared them. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd what have I declared? \r\nI have declared the following: ‘this is suffering,’ \r\n‘this is the origin of suffering,’ \r\n\r\n‘this is the cessation of suffering,’ \r\n\r\n‘this is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.’ \r\n\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd why have I declared these things? \r\nBecause they are beneficial and relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. They lead to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment. \r\nThat’s why I have declared them. \r\nSo, Māluṅkyaputta, you should remember what I have not declared as undeclared, \r\nand what I have declared as declared.” \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat is what the Buddha said. \r\nSatisfied, Venerable Māluṅkyaputta approved what the Buddha said. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/article\u003e"}],"SectionSequence":["Back Link","Work Title","Deck","Author","Period","Era","Composition","Date Note","Region","Terra Avita","Terra Avita Region","Modern Country","Original Title","Language","Primary Discipline","Secondary Discipline","Tradition","Full Versions","Core Thesis","Classification","Arguments","Influence","Significance","Evidence Note","Full Text"],"Counts":{"ContextCards":3,"GeoCards":4,"DisciplineCards":2,"Links":11,"Sections":25,"Styles":3,"Scripts":1}}