Hey looking for two Pali Canon Suttas. The first one is about guarding the mind comparing it to a city wall. The second sutta is about a town or city that is supporting a large group of Buddhist but the town is ransacked by bandits and robbers. Please help it will be so much appreciated.
4 Likes
Check these suttas:
Nagaropama Sutta AN 7.67
When a kingās fortress is well supplied with seven things and has four kinds of food supplies it is impregnable. Similarly, a noble disciple with seven qualities and the four absorptions is impregnable.
Kiį¹sukopama Sutta SN 35.245
A mendicant goes to a series of teachers and asks how vision is purified. Dissatisfied with all their answers, he complains to the Buddha, who illustrates his quandary with the famous simile of the Kiį¹suka tree. Just as the same Kiį¹suka tree might be described differently by people focusing on the leaves, or the fruit, or the bark, etc., so too the various teachers each speak of the aspect of Dhamma most meaningful to them.
( 2nd one has a simili of a city at the end. )
A stanza from dhammapada, kuddakanikaya.
Nagaraį¹ yathÄ paccantaį¹, guttaį¹ santarabÄhiraį¹;
Evaį¹ gopetha attÄnaį¹, khaį¹o vo mÄ upaccagÄ;
Khaį¹ÄtÄ«tÄ hi socanti, nirayamhi samappitÄ.
As a border town is guarded on the inside and the outside, so one should watch over oneself, and you should not let the moment pass, for when the chance has passed they grieve when consigned to the underworld (10th in Nirayavagga).
2 Likes
Nagaropama Sutta will be a helpful sutta, but either of he two presented seem correct.
One is specifically about robbers and bandits ransacking a town that was providing for Buddhist. When the monks come to ask the Buddha about what had happened to the town he compared the incident to the mind. After this all the monks present became enlightened.
The one about the city wall I swear mentions small holes in the wall maybe a mention of rats.
Certainly having some trouble finding these two.
1 Like
It may be the behind story of above stanza from dhammapada.
The story in short;
Some monks who spent the rains dependent for alms on a frontier city led a life of discomfort after the city was attacked by bandits, because the people were busy fortifying their city to protect themselves. When the monks reported the matter to the Buddha, he advised them to fortify their minds.
This mentions a cat and a gatekeeper: Uttiya Sutta
āSuppose there was a kingās frontier citadel with fortified embankments, ramparts, and arches, and a single gate. And it has a gatekeeper who is astute, competent, and clever. He keeps strangers out and lets known people in. As he walks around the patrol path, he doesnāt see a hole or cleft in the wall, not even one big enough for a cat to slip out.ā
4 Likes
Simile of the Vipers isnāt the one the robbing of the city actually takes place it isnāt a simile.
Uttiya Sutta certainly seems correct! It is shorter then I remember, but that may just be me. Is there a longer version of this compared quote?
Though the Nagaropama Sutta certainly builds on the premise, just wondering if there are others.
Still search for the town actually robbed not simile.
I know the Nalanda Sutta has the same simile, with the gatekeeper and the cat. But I donāt think there are others or longer ones.
1 Like
Wow I wonder how many time this citadel simile is used, it seems very common.
One down one to goā¦Stilll looking forā¦
One is specifically about robbers and bandits ransacking a town that was providing for Buddhist. When the monks come to ask the Buddha about what had happened to the town he compared the incident to the mind. After this all the monks present became enlightened.
Not a simile the town/city is actually robbed.
I know of one other one with a citadel simile and a gatekeeper, though it doesnāt mention a cat or other small animal. This one, Kimsukopama Sutta
The other one is quite difficult, I havenāt come across that description. Was it a Jataka story maybe? There are a few about robbers and plundering, for example: SuttaCentral
Nah thatās not it.
Forty-six:
localhost:~/dev::0> scv-bilara/scripts/search citadel -om1 | wc
46 803 8040
an7.67: 67. The Simile of the Citadel
an7.67: āMendicants, when a kingās frontier citadel is well provided with seven essentials and
gets four kinds of sustenance when needed, without trouble or difficulty,
an7.67: it is then called a kingās frontier citadel that cannot be overrun by external foes and
enemies.
an7.67: With what seven essentials is a citadel well provided?
an7.67: Firstly, a citadel has a pillar with deep foundations, firmly embedded, imperturbable a
nd unshakable.
an7.67: This is the first essential with which a kingās frontier citadel is well provided, to d
efend those within and repel those outside.
an7.67: Furthermore, a citadel has a moat that is deep and wide.
an7.67: Furthermore, a citadel has a patrol path that is high and wide.
an7.67: Furthermore, a citadel has stores of many weapons, both projectile and hand-held.
an7.67: Furthermore, many kinds of armed forces reside in a citadel, such as
an7.67: Furthermore, a citadel has a gatekeeper who is astute, competent, and intelligent. He k
eeps strangers out and lets known people in.
an7.67: Furthermore, a citadel has a wall thatās high and wide, covered with plaster.
an7.67: This is the seventh essential with which a kingās frontier citadel is well provided, to
defend those within and repel those outside.
an7.67: With these seven essentials a citadel is well provided.
an7.67: Firstly, a kingās frontier citadel has much hay, wood, and water stored up for the enjo
yment, relief, and comfort of those within and to repel those outside.
an7.67: Furthermore, a kingās frontier citadel has much rice and barley stored up for those wi
an7.67: Furthermore, a kingās frontier citadel has much food such as sesame, green gram, and b
lack gram stored up for those within.
an7.67: Furthermore, a kingās frontier citadel has much medicineā
an7.67: When a kingās frontier citadel is well provided with seven essentials and gets four ki
nds of sustenance when needed, without trouble or difficulty,
an7.67: it is then called a kingās frontier citadel that cannot be overrun by external foes an
d enemies.
an7.67: Just as a kingās frontier citadel has a pillar with deep foundations, firmly embedded,
imperturbable and unshakable, to defend those within and repel those outside,
an7.67: Just as a citadel has a moat that is deep and wide,
an7.67: Just as a citadel has a patrol path that is high and wide,
an7.67: Just as a citadel has stores of many weapons, both projectile and hand-held,
an7.67: Just as many kinds of armed forces reside in a citadel ā¦
an7.67: Just as a citadel has a gatekeeper who is astute, competent, and intelligent, who keep
s strangers out and lets known people in,
an7.67: Just as a citadel has a wall thatās high and wide, covered with plaster, to defend tho
se within and repel those outside,
an7.67: Just as a kingās frontier citadel has much hay, wood, and water stored up for the enjo
yment, relief, and comfort of those within and to repel those outside,
an7.67: Just as a kingās frontier citadel has much rice and barley stored up,
an7.67: Just as a kingās frontier citadel has much food such as sesame, green gram, and black
gram stored up,
an7.67: Just as a kingās frontier citadel has much medicineā
dn16: Suppose there was a kingās frontier citadel with fortified embankments, ramparts, and arch
es, and a single gate.
dn16: āWhatever sizable creatures enter or leave the citadel, all of them do so via this gate.ā
dn16: 7. Building a Citadel
dn16: Now at that time the Magadhan ministers Sunidha and VassakÄra were building a citadel at P
Äį¹aligÄma to keep the Vajjis out.
dn16: āÄnanda, who is building a citadel at PÄį¹aligÄma?ā
dn16: āSir, the Magadhan ministers Sunidha and VassakÄra are building a citadel to keep the Vajj
is out.ā
dn16: āItās as if they were building the citadel in consultation with the gods of the Thirty-Thr
ee.
dn16: āIāll go to the citadel of KusinÄrÄ.ā
an10.95: Suppose there was a kingās frontier citadel with fortified embankments, ramparts, a
nd arches, and a single gate.
an10.95: He doesnāt know how many creatures enter or leave the citadel.
an10.95: But he does know that whatever sizable creatures enter or leave the citadel, all of
them do so via this gate.
sn47.12: Suppose there was a kingās frontier citadel with fortified embankments, ramparts, an
d arches, and a single gate.
sn47.12: āWhatever sizable creatures enter or leave the citadel, all of them do so via this g
ate.ā
an9.39: Defeated and terrified, the demons fled right into the citadel of the demons.
an9.39: When they had entered their citadel, they thought,
5 Likes