Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c35.466

v2.c35.466

Vammīka Sutta.—A deity appeared before Kumārakassapa in Andhavana and propounded a riddle: “There is an anthill burning day and night. The brahmin said: ‘Take your tool, Sumedha (sage), and dig.’ As the brahmin dug, he came across, successively, a bar, a frog, a forked passage, a strainer, a tortoise, a cleaver, a joint of meat—all of which he was told to cast out and dig on. He then came across a cobra, which he was asked not to harm, but to worship.” At the suggestion of the deity, Kassapa related the story to the Buddha, who solved the riddle. The anthill is the body, the brahmin the arahant, the tool wisdom, digging perseverance, the bar ignorance, the forked passage doubting, the strainer the five *nīvaraṇas*, the tortoise the fivefold *upādānakkhandhas*, the cleaver the fivefold pleasures of sense, the joint of meat passion’s delights (*nandīrāga*), and the cobra (*nāga*) the arahant monk.¹