The Discourse about Mucalinda (UD2.1)

Thus I heard: At one time the Gracious One was dwelling near Uruvelā, on the bank of the river Nerañjarā, at the root of the Mucalinda tree, in the first period after attaining Awakening. Then at that time the Gracious One was sitting in one cross-legged posture for seven days experiencing the happiness of freedom.

Then at that time a great cloud arose out of season, bringing seven days of rainy weather, cold winds, and overcast days. Then the Nāga King Mucalinda, after leaving his domicile, and surrounding the Gracious One’s body seven times with his coils, stood with his great hood stretched out above his head, thinking:

“May the Gracious One not be cold, may the Gracious One not be hot, may the Gracious One not be affected by gadflies, mosquitoes, wind, the heat of the sun, and serpents.”

Then with the passing of those seven days, the Gracious One arose from that concentration. Then the Nāga King Mucalinda, having understood that the sky was now clear without a cloud, having unravelled his coils from the Gracious One’s body, and after withdrawing his own form, and creating the appearance of a young brāhmaṇa, stood in front of the Gracious One, revering the Gracious One with raised hands.

Then the Gracious One, having understood the significance of it, on that occasion uttered this exalted utterance:

“There is happiness and detachment for the one who is satisfied,
who has heard the Dhamma, and who sees,
There is happiness for him who is free from ill-will in the world,
who is restrained towards breathing beings.

“The state of dispassion in the world is happiness,
the complete transcending of sense desires,
But for he who has removed the conceit ‘I am’—
this is indeed the highest happiness.”

Translated by Bhikkhu Ānandajoti from the Buddha Jayanthi Tripitaka text. Version 2.2, revised February 2008.

The text and translation, together with detailed notes and discussions, may be found in multiple formats on the translator’s website, Ancient Buddhist Texts.

Used by kind permission of Bhikkhu Ānandajoti.

The original translation was released under the following licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.