Once, in a capital city, a royal officer arrested a notorious criminal who had committed a grave crime and presented him to the king. The king presided over the trial and prescribed two punishments for him. The first punishment was execution by impalement. The second was being fed by four venomous snakes every day. The king gave the criminal the opportunity to choose which punishment he should undergo. The criminal was given two choices: the execution by impalement or being fed by the four snakes. He thought, "This [impalement] is much more difficult than that [being fed by the four snakes], and death is certain. I will choose to be fed by the four snakes," and expressed his opinion to the king.
The king's officers provided four snakes named kaṭīmukha, paṭimukha, aggimukha, and saṇṭhimukha. They were venomous, highly toxic, and possessed strong venom; if any one of them bit him, death was certain.
The kaṭīmukha snake, when released onto the body, takes the form of a dried stick. Wherever it rests on the body, it causes a sharp pain like being pierced by a needle.
The paṭimukha snake, when released onto the body, flows over it like a purulent boil filled with pus. It is like water poured into a milk-bowl.
The aggimukha snake causes the entire body of the person bitten to burn like a handful of fire. Its fangs are scattered like a handful of mustard seeds.
The saṇṭhimukha snake leaves holes all over the body of the person bitten. It is like a place struck by lightning, or like an opening made by a powerful thief entering a house.
The four snakes have varying forms and varying behavioral characteristics. These four snakes went to their respective parts of the criminal's body upon reaching him. One snake coiled around his neck and hovered above his head. The second lay across his belly and rested its head above his navel. The third coiled around his left arm close to his left ear. The fourth coiled around his right arm and rested close to his right ear. All four of these snakes hovered their hoods high at their respective places, hissing loudly with a ss... ss... sound.
The criminal was their attendant. He had to bathe them appropriately. He had to provide them with food. He had to wake them up when they slept. He had to bathe them at the proper times. Even though he served the criminal-like snakes in this manner, he had no loving-kindness or compassion toward them. If any snake failed to receive attendance or was displeased, that snake would not hesitate to bite him.
Thus time passed.
One day, a wise man saw how this person was attending to the snakes, approached him, and examined him. Then, addressing the attendant-criminal, he said:
"O virtuous one, the bangles worn on these arms, the belt tied around the belly, the earrings hanging from both ears, the pearl necklace worn around the neck, and the head ornaments worn on the head—these special adornments were given to me by the king."
Seeing this person wrapped around by the snakes, viewing them as ornaments given by the king, seeing the life he led in attending to the snakes, the wise man felt deep compassion and clarified the true state of things to him:
"You are a royal criminal. The king has given you a punishment. You have on your body four snakes that possess immense majesty and great poison..."
—explaining the nature of the snakes and the danger they caused him.
Hearing this, the criminal fell into deep dejection. The visiting wise man told him, "You must escape from these snakes and flee this place at the very moment you get the opportunity".
Taking his advice to heart, the criminal-criminal saw an opportunity when the royal guards were resting, carefully untangled each snake from his body, freed himself, and fled that place.
When the royal guards realized he had fled, they informed the king. The king flew into a rage, summoned five executioners, and ordered them, "Go quickly, find this criminal, and execute him this very minute!"
Knowing this, the criminal ran at full speed so that the executioners could not catch him. Realizing this, the king deployed five executioners and an intelligence scout to catch the criminal.
Running away from them, he saw a desolate village empty of human life. He thought, "If any enemies are in that village to catch me, they will find nothing there". There was nothing in that village that he needed.
Once again, the wise man approached him and let him know what could happen: "Thieves who beat people will come to this empty village for a long time. Coming to this village will bring you disaster".
The thief-fearing man fled from that village and that empty place upon seeing a vast body of water, and thought thus: "This shore is perilous. That shore is safe. On this side of the water, there are all these perils, fears, and dangers; on the other side, there are no perils, fears, or dangers. Therefore, since this side is fraught with danger, fear, and peril, I must go to the other side". Thinking thus, he gathered branches, creepers, and the like, tied together a raft, climbed onto that raft, and striving with hands and feet, safely crossed over to the other shore.
The other shore is a place of safety. There is no danger whatsoever. The king's orders cannot reach him. He cannot be approached by the four snakes. The five executioners or the intelligence executioners cannot reach him. There is no danger from thieves either. The other shore is truly a place of safety.
- Sotapanna Watha based on the Simile
This is a illustrative story preached by the Buddha-Father. It draws comparisons to individual events and various turning points in the journey through samsara depicted in this story. The explanations (comparisons) corresponding to each simile in this story are shown below:
- Criminal — The sentient being wandering through samsara
- Four Snakes — The body made of the four great elements
- Five Executioners — The five aggregates of clinging (upādānakkhandha)
- Sixth Executioner — Delight and lust (nandi-rāga)
- Empty Village — The internal six sense bases
- Village-plundering Thieves — The external six sense bases
- Body of Water — The four floods (ogha)
- Raft — The Noble Eightfold Path
- This Shore — Identity view (sakkāyadiṭṭhi) and other fetters
- Other Shore — Nibbana
- Path-shower — The virtuous person (the Buddha and other supreme ones)
Let us clearly understand the above allegorical story in accordance with the Dhamma.
There is a sentient being wandering in samsara. That being takes birth in various states of existence. Birth occurs due to ignorance—meaning the failure to recognize the nature of samsara—and the conditioned saṅkhāra (volitional formations) accumulated because saṅkhāra are the karmic forces that sustain the continuation of samsara. Name-and-form (nāma-rūpa) arises due to those saṅkhāra.
The arising of name-and-form is the king imposing punishment on the criminal. That is the body made of the four great elements. The four great elements of the physical form correspond to the four snakes.
The wise person makes the criminal realize regarding the four snakes that he is wearing the food given to him by the king.
A sentient being who wanders through samsara due to saṅkhāra accumulated in the past, or who does not know the true nature of the body, thinks in that manner. The snakes are fed, bathed, awakened, and washed; in the same way, that sentient being feeds, bathes, awakens, and washes the four great elements. The harm and disaster that the snakes cause to a person when angered are similar to the harm, affliction, and disaster that the four great elements cause a person when they become provoked.
This situation is clarified by the sappurisa (wise person). He explains the nature of samsara to the sentient being born in this world, along with the true nature of the body. That is, he explains the true meaning of form. He instructs him to live unattached to it.
The person shown the path by the sappurisa lives unattached to form. He understands the true nature of the four great element forms.
Having cast away the four snakes and fled from that territory, the criminal is followed by the five executioners.
...breakdown. The executioners who pursue him are form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—which constitute the five aggregates of clinging. The wise person gives instructions once again, guiding him: "See the true nature of the five aggregates of clinging with wisdom. Do not be attached to them." He does not fall prey to those executioners.
The king uses executioners who cannot be easily grasped to capture the criminal—that is, an even more powerful executioner, namely nandirāga (delight and lust). That is the internal samyatā acting within, alongside the previously mentioned five aggregates of clinging. That is nandirāga. It is the executioner samyatā that binds lust and delight together, fastening them to the round of samsara.
A sentient being who sees nandirāga with wisdom escapes from it and arrives at the empty village. The empty village means the internal six sense bases—namely the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The person who investigates these six sense bases with wisdom comes to understand that there is nothing substantial in them, no true essence.
The wise person says, "In a little while, a band of village-plundering thieves will arrive. They will enter the village stealthily".
The village-plundering thieves are the external sense bases—namely forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tangibles, and mental objects. These stealthily enter the mind, and through feelings, craving, clinging, and so forth, they cultivate nandirāga and generate sankhara.
Seeing the harm caused by those village-plundering thieves, the criminal flees from them without falling prey, escaping by running away, encountering a water-current. The water-current represents the floods (ogha).
Namely, the four floods:
- Kāmogha (Flood of sense pleasures)
- Bhavogha (Flood of becoming)
- Diṭṭhogha (Flood of views)
- Avijjogha (Flood of ignorance)
To cross over the water-current, he prepares a raft. The raft is the Noble Eightfold Path. Boarding the raft and making an effort with hands and feet to begin the journey is entering the Sotapanna state. Crossing over to the other shore is Arahantship.
- Factors of Sotapatti
This is what is pointed out in this simile. He points out the guidance, and the criminal accepts that guidance. This guidance and following the path guidance resulted in the criminal's escape. All of this clearly explains the four factors of Sotapatti.
Namely:
- Association with good people (sappurisa sevanaya)
- Listening to the True Dhamma (saddamma sravanaya)
- Wise reflection (yoniso manasikāraya)
- Practice in accordance with the Dhamma (dhammānudhamma-paipadāw)
Accordingly, the one who points out the path is the sappurisa. Associating with him is association with good people. The sappurisa gives instructions, which is listening to the True Dhamma. He reflects upon the heard Dhamma with wisdom, which is wise reflection. Practicing that Dhamma is the practice in accordance with the Dhamma.
The necessity of practicing these four factors is clearly explained in the beginning of this chapter. Through this story and discourse, one can gain a practical understanding of the necessity of training in these factors.
- Reflecting according to the Four Noble Truths
The sappurisa continually gives instructions and points out the path to the criminal featured in this story as an analogy, clarifying the true nature of things. Hearing those instructions enables the person to gain a correct understanding of the true nature of things.
That means gaining an understanding of the true nature of the four great elements, form, and the five aggregates of clinging. It is gaining a true understanding of the suffering inherent in existence and knowing the danger (ādayana). This realization corresponds to the Dukkha Noble Truth.
According to the sappurisa's guidance, by reflecting with wisdom, one is able to identify the root cause that gives rise to suffering and birth—namely, nandirāga. It is the sixth executioner that incites the destruction of the person wherever he wanders. This identification is the Dukkha Samudaya Noble Truth.
Recognizing that escaping the body and reaching the other shore means the cessation of suffering is next. The other shore is recognized as Nibbana. In the Four Noble Truths, this is called the Dukkha Nirodha Noble Truth.
A method must be formulated to cross over to the other shore. For that purpose, he prepares a raft using branches, creepers, and the like. A raft is the most suitable device for crossing to the other shore. If one were to enter this water without a raft, one would inevitably face various perils during the fierce current. The raft prepared to cross over the water-current protects the person from the dangers present here.
The raft is the path leading to the cessation of suffering—namely, the Noble Eightfold Path. To take Nibbana as the object is right view (sammā diṭṭhi). Making an effort with hands and feet to board and propel the raft is energy (vīriya).
The stream is the Noble Eightfold Path, and entering the stream means entering the Noble Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path are clarified in the opening chapters of this book because they are indispensable components of the path leading to Nibbana.
- Dassana Pahanabba
The sappurisa shows him the punishment inflicted upon the criminal in the simile and the reality of the life he is leading. He points out the four great elements, the five aggregates of clinging, nandirāga, external and internal sense bases, and so forth at each respective stage. Seeing that guidance with wisdom, he becomes detached from each of those obstacles.
Seeing with wisdom and abandoning each of those obstacles pointed out by the sappurisa according to the Four Noble Truths is called dassana pahanabba. Dassana pahanabba is explained in the early chapters of this book.
- Cultivating Faculty-Dhammas (Indriya Dhamma)
A sappurisa guides a criminal enduring punishments from the king. If the criminal does not trust that guidance, there is no way for him to escape that suffering. Trust is faith (saddhā). To escape from that suffering requires sustained effort and energy (vīriya). Escaping from the king's men and the four snakes must be done mindfully; that is mindfulness (sati). Thus, for this task, the cultivation of faculty-dhammas is essential.
In the guidance given by the Buddha and other sappurisas to a sentient being wandering in samsara, having faith or understanding with wisdom is extremely important. This is the growth of faculty-dhammas.
How faculty-dhammas grow and develop into power-dhammas is clearly explained in the early chapters of this book.
- Characteristics of the Sotapanna Individual
The person depicted in this simile is able to advance further along the path to crossing the stream because the four factors have been fulfilled. That is, having faith in the sappurisa, trusting the sappurisa's guidance, and practicing precisely as he showed.
If this is adapted to the path to Nirvana, it involves the 4 essential requirements of the Sotapatti path. Namely:
- Unshakable faith regarding the Buddha
- Unshakable faith regarding the Buddha's True Dhamma
- Unshakable faith regarding the Noble Sangha
- Possession of flawless, unbroken noble-pleasing virtue (sīla)
These are the four distinct characteristics manifest within a Sotapanna disciple. The necessity of these four characteristics is explained in previous chapters.
The fear present in the person who boarded the raft according to the simile's story ceases entirely. Energy is cultivated through the clear vision of crossing over to the other shore.
- The Fearlessness of the Sotapanna State
The person who has boarded the raft of the Noble Eightfold Path has cast aside all fear present here and attained the state of a noble disciple. He attains the Sotapanna state. The Sotapanna noble disciple—meaning the person standing upon that raft or established in the Noble Eightfold Path—speaks thus:
- I have no more hell (niraya).
- I have no more animal womb.
- I have no more ghost realm (peta visaya).
- I have no more woeful states of ruin (apāya dugati).
- I am a Sotapanna, established in stream-entry, freed from the nature of falling into hell.
He knows the path he has traveled well. He knows the path he must travel just as well. How does he know? He knows very well. Is there any ability to prevent him from reaching the other shore, namely Nibbana? There is none.
In this chapter, the nature of a sentient being wandering in samsara and the journey that must be undertaken to cross over the ocean of samsara have been illustrated through similes. The limits and characteristics pertaining to Sotapanna-hood, along with the path of travel, have been presented here. That is, the raft depicted in the simile story is the Sotapanna state or Sotapanna path. The practice to be followed in relation to that is the state of becoming a Sotapanna—meaning the path to be followed to attain Sotapanna-hood.