Alagaddupama Sutta, Alagaddūpama-sutta: 1 definition
Introduction:
Alagaddupama Sutta means something in Buddhism, Pali. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
In Buddhism
Theravada (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Pali Kanon: Pali Proper NamesPreached at Jetavana to Arittha concerning his heresy. Arittha held that according to the Doctrine, as he understood it, the states of mind, e.g. pleasures of sense, declared by the Buddha to be stumbling blocks, are not such at all to the man who indulges in them. The Buddha questioned Arittha regarding this, and when Arittha acknowledged that such was his view, the Buddha rebuked him as having not even a spark of illumination regarding the Dhamma and the Vinaya.
Foolish persons, who have learned the Doctrine by heart but fail to study its import, quite miss the real meaning of their memorising and find no joy in it, using it solely as a means of stricture on others or of bandying verbal quotations; they are like a man who, finding a serpent, seizes it by its tail or coils and gets bitten, meeting thereby death or deadly hurt. But those, who comprehend all that the Doctrine embodies, resemble a man who pins a serpent securely down with a forked stick and grasps it firmly by its neck.
This sutta also contains the parable of the raft. The Doctrine is like a raft to be used in crossing the flood and then to be abandoned. Even good things must eventually be discarded, therefore, how much more bad things?
The last part of the sutta contains questions, chiefly on the mastery of self, asked by various monks, which the Buddha proceeds to explain (M.i.130ff.; MA.i.321ff). The sutta is quoted by Buddhaghosa (MA.i.136) as an example of a discourse of which the meaning is illustrated by a variety of similes (atthena upamam parivaretva). (v.l. Alagadda Sutta.)
Theravāda is a major branch of Buddhism having the the Pali canon (tipitaka) as their canonical literature, which includes the vinaya-pitaka (monastic rules), the sutta-pitaka (Buddhist sermons) and the abhidhamma-pitaka (philosophy and psychology).
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Partial matches: Sutta.
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Search found 3 books and stories containing Alagaddupama Sutta, Alagaddūpama-sutta; (plurals include: Alagaddupama Suttas, suttas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Philosophy of language in the Five Nikayas (by K.T.S. Sarao)
2.5(c). Majjhima Nikāya (The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha) < [Chapter 1 - Introduction]
6.5. The Four Planes of Liberation (The Four Noble Persons) < [Chapter 3 - Language and Meaning as Reflected in the Five Nikāyas]
Buddhist Monastic Discipline (by Jotiya Dhirasekera)
The Buddha and His Teachings (by Narada Thera)