Deep Commentary

This verse was taught by the Buddha at Kundadhānavana, near Kundakoji, in connection with the Venerable Sīvali. According to the story, Lady Suppavāsā was pregnant for seven years before giving birth. When the time came, she was seized by intense pain. In the midst of that suffering, she reflected on the Buddha: “The Buddha is the Fully Awakened One. He has taught the path that leads beings out of suffering. Whoever practices according to his teaching will be freed from suffering and attain Nibbāna.” Through this contemplation, she was able to endure the pain. She asked her husband to go on her behalf and pay homage to the Buddha. Her husband reported her wishes to the Blessed One. The Buddha blessed her, wishing that she be well and give birth safely to a son. As soon as the Buddha’s blessing was spoken, she gave birth to a beautiful, healthy boy. Afterward, she invited the Buddha and the Saṅgha to her home and offered meals for seven days. When the child grew up, he served the monks, later went forth, practiced diligently, and attained arahantship.

Seeing this, other monks discussed the fact that Venerable Sīvali had suffered in his mother’s womb for seven years. They wondered why such a noble arahant had to undergo such painful circumstances. They brought the matter before the Buddha. The Buddha said: “Monks, it is indeed so. But now he has gone beyond all suffering and has attained the peace of Nibbāna.”

Because of unawakened thoughts and karmic actions, beings continue to wander through the cycle of birth and death, undergoing countless forms of suffering. Recognizing the rough and muddy road of saṃsāra, we should urgently devote ourselves to practice. We should repeatedly look back into our own mind and clearly discern which path leads to suffering and which path leads to peace and happiness. The Buddha taught us to search deeply for the cause of suffering. Only when we see the cause can we bring it to an end.

If we live without right view, without mindfulness, and without deep insight into life, we may become like machines without even realizing it. In meeting life, we often lose ourselves, and we lose ourselves needlessly. Each day we breathe, eat, speak, work, calculate, and interact with many things in the world, yet how often are we truly aware that we are breathing, smiling, speaking, eating, or working? Most of the time, we are not fully present in those moments. Then we should ask ourselves: what is our life really? Is it merely eating, dressing, living, speaking, laughing, working, and interacting, repeated from birth until death? If that were all, life would be painfully shallow and meaningless. But life is not confined to that. We must discover something higher, truer, and more noble within life itself.

If we stop at satisfying ordinary needs and desires, we will continue endlessly in a life burdened by suffering. In Buddhist teaching, this is called wandering through the lower and higher realms of existence within saṃsāra. A person who lives with the ideal of liberation will not be content to remain there. In this verse, the Buddha teaches that to cross the ocean of ignorance and saṃsāra and reach the shore of liberation, we must abide in meditation, which means living in awareness. We should not be driven by craving or by the demand to satisfy restless desires. We should not doubt the law of cause and effect, nor doubt that the true Dhamma can free beings from attachment and suffering. In this way, human life is not wasted, for we discover a true and noble purpose for living.

The story shows that in a state of extreme suffering, Lady Suppavāsā turned her mind toward the Buddha and his teachings, and this helped ease the pain that tormented her. This was possible because she had strong concentration and a deeply cultivated contemplative mind. Such strength is not easy to develop. Without daily practice and the steady cultivation of spiritual power, it is difficult to remain calm in suffering. Ordinary people, when faced with such pain, usually can only cry out and think of the pain itself. Therefore, to pass beyond suffering, we must develop deep and strong meditative concentration. Casual, unfocused practice cannot bring such strength.

As for Venerable Sīvali, although he remained in his mother’s womb for seven years, he had deep roots of goodness. After birth, he had the opportunity to serve the Buddha and the Saṅgha. Because of this, he was guided by the Buddha, went forth, practiced, and attained arahantship. In this present life, if we diligently cultivate wholesome karma and plant deep roots of goodness in the Buddha’s teaching, sooner or later we will surely fulfill our noble aspiration.