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Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta

The Buddha’s teaching to the monk Malunkyaputta is not a typical beginning point for the study of the Buddha’s teachings. I’ve chosen to begin with it for a few reasons:

  • It places the Buddha’s teachings in clear contradistinction to the teachings of the dominant culture that prevailed in Northern India when he was conducting his teaching. That culture, known as Brahmanism, was based on a rigid caste structure, and the caste at the top of the hierarchy, the Brahmins, maintained their position by their possession of esoteric teachings regarding those ideas which every age considers “ultimate truths”—the nature of the Universe, the existence of a soul, the fate of the personality after the death of the body. The Buddha rejected caste on the basis that it had nothing to do with the worth of an individual; his teachings were not esoteric, but freely given to all who asked, in the language they spoke and a style that made it easy for them to grasp the meaning; and he was firm in his insistence that the search for ultimate truths was a chimerical one, distracting the seeker from the reality that is truly important to understand and that can be seen directly by anyone who makes the right effort: the reality of the human condition.
  • It gives a good picture of the Buddha’s striking use of simile to make a point, something that we’ll see again and again in the following weeks.
  • It gives us just a glimpse into the personality of the man who was the Buddha—patient and compassionate, but not one who suffered fools gladly; someone with a sense of irony and humor; someone who cared deeply for those within his community.

The rendering that follows is not an exact translation of the Pali text, but it follows it fairly closely. For a more literal translation, see the version by the American-born monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu on the excellent Access to Insight website: Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya, Majjima Nikaya #63.

This is what I’ve heard…

The Honored One was staying at Jeta’s Grove in the monastery endowed by Anathapindika near Savatthi. The Venerable Malunkyaputta was alone in seclusion when this thought arose in his mind: “Certain positions are undeclared by the Honored One, put aside, dismissed—’The universe is eternal’, ‘The universe is not eternal’, ‘The Universe is finite’, ‘The universe is infinite’, ‘The soul & the body are one and the same’, ‘The soul is one thing & the body another’, ‘A Tathagata exists after death’, ‘A Tathagata does not exist after death’, ‘A Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’, ‘A Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’. I’m not pleased that The Honored One has not declared these positions to me; I can’t accept that. I will go ask the Honored One about this matter. If he declares to me that ‘The universe is eternal’ or that ‘The universe is not eternal’, ‘The Universe is finite’ or that ‘The universe is infinite’, ‘The soul & the body are one and the same’ or that ‘The soul is one thing & the body another’, ‘A Tathagata exists after death’ or that ‘A Tathagata does not exist after death’ or that ‘A Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or that ‘A Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’, then I will continue to obey the discipline; if he does not declare these positions to me, then I will return to a lower life.”

This is not Malunkyaputta

In the evening, then, the Venerable Malunkyaputta arose from seclusion and went to the Honored One. He bowed, sat to one side, and spoke. “Just now, Venerable Sir, as I was sitting in seclusion, this thought arose in my my mind, ‘Certain positions are undeclared by the Honored One, put aside, dismissed—’The universe is eternal’, ‘The universe is not eternal’, ‘The Universe is finite’, ‘The universe is infinite’, ‘The soul & the body are one and the same’, ‘The soul is one thing & the body another’, ‘A Tathagata exists after death’, ‘A Tathagata does not exist after death’, ‘A Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’, ‘A Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’. I’m not pleased that The Honored One has not declared these positions to me; I can’t accept that. I will go ask the Honored One about this matter. If he declares to me that ‘The universe is eternal’ or that ‘The universe is not eternal’, ‘The Universe is finite’ or that ‘The universe is infinite’, ‘The soul & the body are one and the same’ or that ‘The soul is one thing & the body another’, ‘A Tathagata exists after death’ or that ‘A Tathagata does not exist after death’ or that ‘A Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or that ‘A Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’, then I will continue to obey the discipline; if he does not declare these positions to me, then I will return to a lower life.’

“Venerable Sir, if the Honored One knows that the Universe is eternal, may he declare to me, ‘The Universe is eternal.’ If he knows that it is not eternal, may he declare to me, ‘The Universe is not eternal’. And if he does not know or see whether the Universe is eternal or not eternal, then, in one who does not know or see, the forthright thing is to say, ‘I don’t know that; I can’t see that.’ Just so for those other positions, concerning the limits of the Universe, the nature of soul and body, and the fate of a Tathagata after death. If the Honored one knows or sees the correct position in these cases, let him declare that to me. If he does not know or see, for example, whether a Tathagata exists after death, or does not exist, or both exists and does not exist, or neither exists nor does not exist, the, in one who does not know or see, the forthright thing is to say, ‘I don’t know that; I can’t see that.’”

“Malunkyaputta, did I ever say to you, ‘Malunkyaputta, if you come live the holy life, I will declare to you, ‘The Universe is eternal’ or ‘The Universe is not eternal’, or ‘The Universe is finite’, or ‘The Universe is infinite’, or ‘The soul and the body are one’, or ‘The soul is one thing and the body another’, or ‘After death, a Tathagata exists’, or ‘does not exist’, or ‘both exists and does not exist’, or ‘neither exists nor does not exist’?”

“No, Venerable Sir.”

“And did you ever say to me, ‘I will live the holy life on the condition that you declare those things to me’?”

“No, Venerable Sir.”

“In that case, you foolish man, just who do you think you are and what do you think you’re doing?

“Malunkyaputta, if anyone were to say ‘I won’t live the holy life unless the Honored One declares to me that “The Universe is eternal” or that “The Universe is not eternal”, or that “The Universe is finite”, or that “The Universe is infinite”", or that “The soul and the body are one”, or that “The soul is one thing and the body another”, or that “‘”After death, a Tathagata exists, or “does not exist”, or “both exists and does not exist”, or “neither exists nor does not exist”‘, then that man would die and those things would still be undeclared by the Tathagata.

“It’s just as if a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, his clansmen & relatives would bring in a surgeon, and the man would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who fired it was a Brahmin, a warrior, a merchant, or a laborer’. He would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know the name and clan of the man who fired it. I won’t have it removed until I know whether that man was tall, medium, or short, whether he was fair-skinned, dark, or of a golden hue. I won’t have it removed until I know his home village, town, or city; until I know whether he fired a long bow or a crossbow; until I know whether the bowstring on his weapon was made of fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp or bark; until I know whether the shaft of the arrow was made of wild or cultivated wood; until I know whether the feathers with which the arrow was fletched came from a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or some other bird; until I know whether the shaft was bound with the sinew or an ox, a water buffalo, an ape or a monkey.’ The man would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know whether the arrow head was a simple point, a curved point, a barbed point, whether it had a leaf shape or the shape of a hoof.’ That man would die, and those things would remain unknown.

“In the same way, if anyone were to say ‘I won’t live the holy life unless the Honored One declares to me that “The Universe is eternal” or that “The Universe is not eternal”, or that “The Universe is finite”, or that “The Universe is infinite”", or that “The soul and the body are one”, or that “The soul is one thing and the body another”, or that “After death, a Tathagata exists”, or “does not exist”, or “both exists and does not exist”, or “neither exists nor does not exist”‘, then that man would die and those things would still be undeclared by the Tathagata.

“Malunkyaputta, the conviction ‘The Universe is eternal’ has nothing to do with the holy life. The conviction ‘The Universe is not eternal’ has nothing to do with the holy life. Whether there is the conviction ‘The Universe is eternal’, or whether there is the conviction ‘The Universe is not eternal’, there is still birth, still aging, still death, still the sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair and distress whose destruction I make known right here and right now.”

“The conviction ‘The Universe is finite’ has nothing to do with the holy life. The conviction ‘The Universe is infinite’ has nothing to do with the holy life. Whether there is the conviction ‘The Universe is finite’, or whether there is the conviction ‘The Universe is infinite’, there is still birth, still aging, still death, still the sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair and distress whose destruction I make known right here and right now.

“So with the nature of the soul and the body, so with the fate of a Tathagata after death. The conviction ‘A Tathagata exists after death’ has nothing to do with the holy life. The conviction ‘A Tathagata does not exist after death’ has nothing to do with the holy life. The conviction ‘A Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or the conviction ‘A Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ has nothing to do with the holy life. Whether there is the one conviction or the other, there is still birth, still aging, still death, still the sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair and distress whose destruction I make known right here and right now.

“So, Malunkyaputta, remember what is undeclared by me as undeclared, and remember what is declared by me as declared. And what is undeclared by me? ‘The Universe is eternal’ is undeclared by me. ‘The universe is not eternal’ is undeclared by me. ‘The Universe is finite’, ‘The universe is infinite’, ‘The soul & the body are one and the same’, ‘The soul is one thing & the body another’, ‘A Tathagata exists after death’, ‘A Tathagata does not exist after death’, ‘A Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’, ‘A Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’. All these positions are undeclared by me. And why are these undeclared by me? because they have nothing to do with the goal, they are not part of the holy life. They do not lead to an end to confusion, release from the heat of passion, cessation of craving, equanimity, vision and insight, awakening, nibbana. That is why they are undeclared by me.

“And what is declared by me? ‘This is dukkha‘ is declared by me. ‘This is the origin of dukkha‘ is declared by me. ‘This is the cessation of dukkha‘ is declared by me. ‘This is the path that leads to the cessation of dukkha‘ is declared by me. And why are these declared by me? Because they are tied to the goal; they are fundamental to the holy life. They lead to an end to confusion, release from the heat of passion, cessation of craving, equanimity, vision and insight, awakening, nibbana. That is why they are declared by me.

“So, Malunkyaputta, remember what is undeclared by me as undeclared, and what is declared by me as declared.”

That is what the Honored One said. Gratified, the Venerable Malunkyaputta delighted in the Honored One’s words.

“The Honored One”
The Pali term is bhagavant, which is usually translated as “Blessed One”. The literal meaning is “fortunate one”, or even “lucky one”. Given the meaning that “blessed” has assumed in our culture, I prefer a translation that has fewer theological overtones.

“Venerable Malunkyaputta”
Malunkyaputta makes several appearances in the Pali Canon; in most of those, he’s presented as someone who is missing the point, and it’s usually because he can’t let go of his previous views. He was the son of an assessor at the court of King Pasenedi, and it’s likely that he entered the Buddhist sangha when he was already at an advanced age and had been living for some time as a renunciant wanderer. In the Samyutta Nikaya, it is told how Malunkyaputta, by then a very old man, approached the Buddha and asked him to teach the Dhamma in brief. “”Here now, Malunkyaputta,” the Buddha responded. “What will I say to the young monks when you — aged, old, elderly, along in years, come to the last stage of life — ask for an admonition in brief?” When Malunkyaputta persists, the Buddha gives him a teaching about the importance of letting go of the notion of self. Malunkyaputta, we are then told, retired to the forest, where, shortly before his death, contemplating the teaching he received, he achieved enlightenment and became an arahant.

“Tathagata“
This is a particularly difficult term; the Buddha frequently refers to himself as “the Tathagata“, and others frequently refer to the Buddha as “a Tathagata“. The literal meaning is “one who’s gone this way” or “one who’s come this way”; some translators have resorted to the clumsy and unidiomatic “thus-gone One”. It seems to me that the implication of the term (and of its etymology) is that the Buddha found a Path that no one else had found (at least in this age of the world); in some of the other suttas I’ve rendered on this site, I’ve translated the term as “Pathfinder”. Perhaps, though, the best way to deal with a term so complex in its connotations and so ambiguous in its literal meaning is to leave it, as I have here, untranslated.

“the holy life”
In Pali, brahmacariya; literally, that refers to life as pure as the life of the gods who live in the Brahma realm, free of passion and sensual desire.

“what is declared by me”
These are the Four Noble Truths, the subject of the Buddha’s very first teaching, the Dhammacakkappavatthana Sutta, the great Discourse Turning the Wheel of the Law.

“dukkha”
Another term very difficult to translate. It refers to the pain, the suffering, the dissatisfaction and unreliability and frustrating nature of things that all arise upon the conjunction of a world that is impermanent and in constant process with a human mind that desires permanence and reliability. Perhaps the best single word I’ve seen used to translate dukkha is “anguish”—the term Stephen Batchelor uses in “Buddhism Without Beliefs”.