The Eight wonderful & marvellous Qualities of the Dhamma & Discipline

The Eight wonderful & marvellous Qualities of the Dhamma & Discipline

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The Simile of the Ocean 🏝

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Verañjā, at the foot of Naḷeru’s nimba tree. 

There Pahārāda, a chief of the asuras, approached the Blessed One, and having paid homage to him, he stood to one side. 

The Blessed One then spoke to Pahārāda thus:

“I suppose, Pahārāda, the asuras find delight in the great ocean.”

“They do, Lord.”

“Now, Pahārāda, how many wonderful and marvellous qualities do the asuras again and again perceive in the great ocean so that they take delight in it?” 

“There are, Lord, eight wonderful and marvellous qualities which the asuras again and again perceive in the great ocean by reason of which they take delight in it. 

These are the eight:

(1) The great ocean, Lord, slopes away gradually, falls gradually, inclines gradually, not in an abrupt way like a precipice. This is the first wonderful and marvellous quality that the asuras perceive in the great ocean by reason of which they take delight in it.

(2) The great ocean is stable and does not overflow its boundaries. This is the second wonderful and marvellous quality….

(3) The great ocean does not tolerate a dead body, a corpse; if there is a dead body in it, the great ocean will quickly carry it to the shore and cast it on to the land. 

This is the third wonderful and marvellous quality….

(4) When those mighty rivers—the Ganges, the Yamunā, the Aciravatī, the Sarabhū and the Mahī—reach the great ocean, they lose their former names and designations and are reckoned just as the great ocean. 

This is the fourth wonderful and marvellous quality….

(5) Though all the streams of the world flow into the great ocean and rain falls into it from the sky, yet there appears neither a decrease nor an increase in the great ocean. This is the fifth wonderful and marvellous quality….

(6) The great ocean has but one taste, the taste of salt. 

This is the sixth wonderful and marvellous quality….

(7) In the great ocean, there are many and variegated precious substances: pearls, gems, lapis lazuli, shells, quartz, corals, silver, gold, rubies, and cats-eyes. This is the seventh wonderful and marvellous quality….

(8) The great ocean is the abode of vast creatures: the timi, the timiṅgala, the timirapiṅgala, asuras, nāgas, and gandhabbas. There are in the great ocean beings one hundred yojanas long, or two, three, four and five hundred yojanas long. This is the eighth wonderful and marvellous quality that the asuras perceive in the great ocean by reason of which they take delight in it.

“These, Lord, are the eight wonderful and marvellous qualities which the asuras again and again perceive in the great ocean by reason of which they take delight in it. I suppose, Lord, the monks take delight in this Dhamma and Discipline?”

“They do, Pahārāda.”

“But, Lord, how many wonderful and marvellous qualities do the monks again and again perceive in this Dhamma and Discipline by reason of which they take delight in it?”

“There are, Pahārāda, eight wonderful and marvellous qualities in this Dhamma and Discipline, which the monks again and again perceive by reason of which they take delight in it.

These are the eight:

(1) Just as the great ocean slopes away gradually, falls gradually, inclines gradually, not in an abrupt way like a precipice; even so, Pahārāda, is this Dhamma and Discipline: there is a gradual training, gradual practice, gradual progress; there is no penetration to final knowledge in an abrupt way. This is the first wonderful and marvellous quality in this Dhamma and Discipline, which the monks perceive by reason of which they take delight in it.

(2) Just as the great ocean is stable and does not overflow its boundaries; even so when I have made known a rule of training to my disciples, they will not transgress it even for life’s sake. 

This is the second wonderful and marvellous quality in this Dhamma and Discipline….

(3) Just as the great ocean will not tolerate a dead body, a corpse, but quickly carries it to the shore and casts it on to the land; even so the Sangha will not tolerate within its ranks a person who is immoral, of bad character, of impure and suspicious conduct, secretive in his actions, not a true ascetic but rather a sham-ascetic, not chaste but pretending to be chaste, rotten to the core, lustful and of vile behaviour. In such a case, the Sangha quickly assembles and expels such a person. 

Even if seated in the midst of the monks’ assembly, yet he is far from the Sangha and the Sangha is far from him. This is the third wonderful and marvellous quality in this Dhamma and Discipline….

(4) Just as the mighty rivers on reaching the great ocean lose their former names and designations and are just reckoned as the great ocean; even so, when members of the four castes —nobles, brahmins, commoners and menials—go forth from home into the homeless life in this Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgata, they lose their former names and lineage and are reckoned only as ascetics following the Son of the Sakyans. 

This is the fourth wonderful and marvellous quality in this Dhamma and Discipline….

(5) Just as in the great ocean neither a decrease nor an increase will appear though all the streams of the world flow into it and rain falls into it from the sky; even so, even if many monks attain final Nibbāna in the Nibbāna element that is without residue left, there is no decrease or increase in the Nibbāna element that is without residue left. This is the fifth wonderful and marvellous quality in this Dhamma and Discipline….

(6) Just as the great ocean has but one taste, the taste of salt; even so this Dhamma and

Discipline has but one taste, the taste of liberation. This is the sixth wonderful and marvellous quality in this Dhamma and Discipline….

(7) Just as in the great ocean there are many and variegated precious substances such as pearls, gems, etc.; even so in this Dhamma and Discipline there is much that is precious. 

These are the precious things in it: the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of success, the five spiritual faculties, the five spiritual powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path. This is the seventh wonderful and marvellous quality in this Dhamma and Discipline….

(8) Just as the great ocean is the abode of vast creatures; even so is this Dhamma and Discipline the domain of great beings: the stream-enterer and one practising for the realization of the fruit of stream-entry; the once-returner and one practising for the realization of the fruit of once-returning; the non-returner and one practising for the realization of the fruit of non-returning; the arahat and one practising for arahatship. This is the eighth wonderful and marvellous quality in this Dhamma and Discipline, which the monks perceive again and again by reason of which they take delight in it.

“These, Pahārāda, are the eight wonderful and marvellous qualities in this Dhamma and

Discipline, which the monks perceive again and again by reason of which they take delight in it.”

Anguttara Nikāya 

The Chapter of the Eights 

(8:19) Pahārādasutta

With Pahārāda

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18 October 2023