11.
The Discourse on Bhadraka
363.
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Mallas, where there was a market town of the Mallas named Uruvelakappa.
Then Bhadraka the headman approached the Blessed One;
having approached, he paid respect to the Blessed One and sat down to one side.
Seated to one side, Bhadraka the headman said this to the Blessed One -
"It would be good, venerable sir, if the Blessed One would teach me the origin and passing away of suffering."
"If I, headman, were to teach you the origin and passing away of suffering with reference to the past period of time -
'Thus it was in the past period of time' - there would be uncertainty in you about that, there would be doubt.
If I, headman, were to teach you the origin and passing away of suffering with reference to the future period of time -
'Thus it will be in the future period of time' - there too would be uncertainty in you about that, there would be doubt.
But I, headman, seated right here, will teach you seated right here the origin and passing away of suffering.
Listen to that, pay close attention;
I will speak."
"Yes, venerable sir," Bhadraka the headman assented to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One said this:
"What do you think, headman, are there people in Uruvelakappa for whom, through their murder or imprisonment or loss or blame, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish would arise in you?" "There are, venerable sir, people in Uruvelakappa for whom, through their murder or imprisonment or loss or blame, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish would arise in me." "But are there, headman, people in Uruvelakappa for whom, through their murder or imprisonment or loss or blame, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish would not arise in you?" "There are, venerable sir, people in Uruvelakappa for whom, through their murder or imprisonment or loss or blame, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish would not arise in me." "What now, headman, is the cause, what is the condition, whereby through the murder or imprisonment or loss or blame of some people of Uruvelakappa, sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish would arise in you?" "Those people of Uruvelakappa, venerable sir, through whose murder or imprisonment or loss or blame sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish would arise in me - there is desire and lust in me towards them. But those people of Uruvelakappa, venerable sir, through whose murder or imprisonment or loss or blame sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish would not arise in me - there is no desire and lust in me towards them." "By this phenomenon, headman, that is seen, known, immediate, attained, and penetrated, draw an inference regarding the past and future - 'Whatever suffering arose in the past period of time, all that had desire as its root, desire as its source. For desire is the root of suffering. Whatever suffering will arise in the future period of time, all that will have desire as its root, desire as its source. For desire is the root of suffering.'" "Wonderful, venerable sir, marvellous, venerable sir! How well spoken is this, venerable sir, by the Blessed One - 'Whatever suffering arises when arising, all that has desire as its root, desire as its source. For desire is the root of suffering.' There is, venerable sir, a boy named Ciravāsī who lives outside in a public rest-house. I, venerable sir, having risen early in the morning, send a man - 'Go, my good man, find out about the boy Ciravāsī.' As long as, venerable sir, that man does not return, there is indeed anxiety in me - 'May nothing have afflicted the boy Ciravāsī!'"
"What do you think, headman, would sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish arise in you from the murder or imprisonment or loss or blame of the boy Ciravāsī?" "Venerable sir, from the murder or imprisonment or loss or blame of my boy Ciravāsī, there would even be an alteration in my life, how then would sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish not arise in me?" "By this method too, headman, it should be known - 'Whatever suffering arises when arising, all that has desire as its root, desire as its source. For desire is the root of suffering.'"
"What do you think, headman, when Ciravāsī's mother was unseen by you, unheard by you, was there desire or lust or affection in you for Ciravāsī's mother?" "No, Venerable Sir." "Was it through seeing or hearing, headman, that this arose in you - 'desire or lust or affection for Ciravāsī's mother'?" "Yes, venerable sir."
"What do you think, headman, would sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish arise in you from the murder or imprisonment or loss or blame of Ciravāsī's mother?" "Venerable sir, from the murder or imprisonment or loss or blame of Ciravāsī's mother, there would even be an alteration in my life, how then would sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and anguish not arise in me!" "By this method too, headman, it should be known - 'Whatever suffering arises when arising, all that has desire as its root, desire as its source. For desire is the root of suffering.'" The eleventh.