The Discourse about the Destruction of Craving (UD7.6)

Thus I heard: At one time the Gracious One was dwelling near Sāvatthī, in Jeta’s Wood, at Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then at that time venerable Aññātakoṇḍañña Koṇḍañña, he-who-knows was sitting not far away from the Gracious One, after folding his legs crosswise, and setting his body straight, reflecting on his own freedom through the complete destruction of craving. The Gracious One saw venerable Aññātakoṇḍañña sat not far away, after folding his legs crosswise, and setting his body straight, reflecting on his own freedom through the complete destruction of craving.

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

“For he who has no roots, no ground, and no leaves, how then creepers?
That firm one free from bonds—who is worthy enough to blame him?
The devas praise him, and he has also been praised by Brahma.”

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.