Deep Commentary

These six verses were taught by the Buddha at Bamboo Grove Monastery in connection with the story of a young sow. One day, while the Blessed One was entering Rājagaha for alms, he saw a young sow rolling about in filth. Seeing her, the Buddha smiled, and light shone from his teeth. Venerable Ānanda asked why the Buddha had smiled. The Buddha then told him the story of the sow’s former lives. In the time of the Buddha Kakusandha, this sow had been a hen living near a meditation hall. Because she listened attentively to the sound of a monk reciting a meditation subject, she was reborn in a royal palace as Princess Ubbari. One day, while using the latrine, she observed the worms moving in the filth. Her mind became concentrated, and she entered the first jhāna. After that life, she was reborn into a Brahmin family. Later, however, she committed many unwholesome deeds and was eventually reborn as this young sow. The Buddha said that, knowing her long course through birth and death, he had smiled. The monks who heard this were deeply moved. The Buddha then taught them about the folly and danger of craving and spoke these verses. Later, the young sow passed through thirteen more lives, sometimes reborn as an animal, sometimes as a wealthy and noble human being. In one life, she became the wife of a chief minister. When Elder Anula passed by her house and recognized her, he told the monks that the young sow had now become the wife of the minister Lakuntaka Atimbara. On hearing this, she suddenly remembered her former lives and gained the knowledge of past births. She then renounced lay life, became the nun Pañcabalācā, and before long attained arahantship. She later told the full story of her many births and urged everyone to practice mindfulness and strive for liberation. Her words deeply moved the fourfold assembly. Afterward, she entered final Nibbāna. In verse 338, the Buddha compares the cutting off of craving to cutting down a tree. If one wants a tree never to sprout again, one must remove its roots completely. In the same way, craving must be uprooted. If even the smallest subtle desire remains, rebirth in the cycle of suffering continues. Therefore, the Buddha teaches that anyone who wishes to end rebirth and suffering must remove craving at its root. In verse 339, the Buddha speaks of the many streams of craving that sweep beings toward unwholesome paths. The number given represents the many ways desire arises through the sense bases and their objects, across past, present, and future. When eye meets form, ear meets sound, and the other senses meet their objects, discrimination arises: pleasant things are grasped at, unpleasant things are rejected. Both attachment and aversion disturb the mind and lead to suffering. Objects themselves are not the real problem; bondage begins when consciousness divides them into what is wanted and unwanted. From that, love and hate arise, and beings are tied to the cycle of birth and death. In verse 340, the Buddha further stresses the danger of craving. Human desire has no true limit; it spreads like a creeping plant. It always wants more and rarely knows contentment. The poor long for wealth, but even the powerful and wealthy still hunger for more. Whenever one hopes and clings, disappointment is already hidden within that hope. The more one craves, the more one suffers. This is the suffering of not getting what one wants. To lessen suffering, the Buddha teaches restraint of desire; to attain true peace and liberation, one must uproot craving completely. In verse 341, the Buddha describes the harm caused by those heavily bound by sensual desire. Such people may wish for peace, yet they keep chasing the pleasures of the senses and remain trapped in the round of suffering. Human life is full of contradiction: when suffering is intense, we long for release, but once the crisis passes, we return to old patterns of desire and forget the wish for freedom. We may admire Nibbāna, yet still cling to worldly pleasure. This divided mind prevents both spiritual fulfillment and lasting happiness. In verse 342, the Buddha uses the image of a hare caught in a net to describe those trapped by craving. Once caught, the hare may struggle, but escape is difficult. In the same way, those entangled in sensual craving are bound by the net of defilements and must endure suffering again and again. When the fire of desire burns fiercely, it first burns oneself and then harms others. Sensual pleasure may appear sweet, but it is fragile and short-lived; it often brings long sorrow after a moment of delight. If the root of craving is not removed, beings continue to sink in the ocean of birth and death. In verse 343, the Buddha repeats and emphasizes that whoever wishes to be free from suffering must quickly cut off craving. Especially for renunciants, this work is urgent. If they do not remove craving, they are like a hare caught in a net—the net of afflictions and bondage. Whether monastic or lay, anyone who fails to abandon defilements cannot escape painful karmic results. The Buddha therefore urges practitioners to reflect constantly on birth, death, and suffering, and to make earnest effort to uproot craving. The story also shows the power of meditative attention. As a hen, the being gained great merit simply by listening attentively to a monk reciting a meditation subject. As a princess, she gained concentration by observing impermanence in a humble and unpleasant scene. Yet even attainment of the first jhāna did not guarantee liberation. When unwholesome karma was later created, lower rebirth still followed. This is the fairness of cause and effect: wholesome deeds bring blessing, unwholesome deeds bring decline. One receives the fruit of the seeds one plants. Through many lives of joy and suffering, the sow eventually gained the conditions to be reborn as a noblewoman. When she heard the truth of her former births from an accomplished elder, she awakened, renounced the world, practiced diligently, and attained arahantship.