Samyuttanikaya 12.6.2.52_2

12.6.2.52_2

Na kālena kālaṃ sukkhāni ceva tiṇāni pakkhipeyyāti tañhi koci atthakāmo evaṃ vadeyya – ‘‘bho kasmā uṭṭhāya samuṭṭhāya kalāpe bandhitvā sukkhatiṇakaṭṭhānaṃ pacchiyañca pūretvā sukkhagomayāni pakkhipanto etaṃ aggiṃ jālesi? Api nu te atthi itonidānaṃ kāci vaḍḍhīti? Vaṃsāgatametaṃ bho amhākaṃ, itonidānaṃ pana me avaḍḍhiyeva, kuto vaḍḍhi? Ahañhi imaṃ aggiṃ jagganto neva nhāyituṃ na bhuñjituṃ na nipajjituṃ labhāmīti. Tena hi bho kiṃ te iminā niratthakena aggijālanena? Ehi tvaṃ etāni ābhatāni tiṇādīni ettha nikkhipa, tāni sayameva jhāyissanti, tvaṃ pana asukasmiṃ ṭhāne sītodakā pokkharaṇī atthi, tattha nhatvā, mālāgandhavilepanehi attānaṃ maṇḍetvā sunivattho supārutova pādukāhi nagaraṃ pavisitvā pāsādavaramāruyha vātapānaṃ vivaritvā mahāvīthiyaṃ virocamāno nisīda ekaggo sukhasamappito hutvā, tattha te nisinnassa tiṇādīnaṃ khayena sayameva ayaṃ aggi appaṇṇattibhāvaṃ gamissatī’’ti. So tathā kareyya. Tatheva ca tattha nisinnassa so aggi upādānakkhayena appaṇṇattibhāvaṃ gaccheyya. Idaṃ sandhāyetaṃ ‘‘na kālena kāla’’ntiādi vuttaṃ.

“Would not add dry grass from time to time”: for someone who desires his welfare might say to him thus: “Sir, why do you repeatedly get up, bind bundles of dry grass and wood, fill a basket, throw in dry cow dung, and kindle this fire? Do you have any benefit whatsoever resulting from this?” “This is an ancestral custom of ours, sir. But for me, only detriment results from this, whence any benefit? For while tending this fire, I do not get to bathe, eat, or lie down.” “If so, sir, what is the use of this pointless fire-kindling of yours? Come, put down here these grasses and so forth that you have brought; they will burn away by themselves. But in such-and-such a place there is a pond of cool water; having bathed there, adorned yourself with garlands, scents, and unguents, properly clothed, properly cloaked, and wearing sandals, enter the city, ascend an excellent mansion, open the window, and, resplendent upon the great street, sit down, unified in mind and endowed with happiness. While you sit there, as the grasses and so forth are depleted, this fire will spontaneously go out.” He would do so. And likewise, as he sits there, with the exhaustion of the fuel, that fire would go out. It is with reference to this that it is said: “would not [add] from time to time,” and so on.