SN 2.5 — With Dāmali | Ru-Yi Meditation Center

Reading guide

A godling corrected, not merely answered

Unlike most exchanges in this book, where a deity's question is answered, here a godling's positive claim is directly contradicted: Dāmali says striving defines the brahmin, and the Buddha says the brahmin he has in mind has nothing left to strive for.

Striving toward completion, not striving forever

The disagreement is not about whether striving matters but about when it ends. Dāmali's verse describes an ongoing effort; the Buddha's reply describes someone who has already completed the task the effort was for.

A swimming simile, echoing this collection's opening

The Buddha's verse pictures someone struggling in a river, swimming with every limb because they have not yet found footing, contrasted with someone who has reached dry land and no longer needs to swim — a simile that directly recalls SN 1.1's flood ‘crossed neither standing nor swimming’, though the two similes make different points from related imagery.

The far shore, reached

Both halves of the Buddha's verse close on the same phrase, ‘for they have reached the far shore’ — first as a general simile, then applied directly to Dāmali as describing the brahmin, alert, a meditator who has ended defilements.

Same imagery, opposite emphasis from SN 1.1

SN 1.1's flood-crossing riddle turns on a paradox — crossing without standing or swimming — solved by not sinking through indulgence or being swept away through restless striving. SN 2.5's simile instead contrasts the unfinished swimmer with the one who has already reached land, a complementary but distinct use of the same river imagery.

Key terms

brāhmaṇa — “brahmin” — used here, as elsewhere in this collection, not for birth caste but for one who has completed the spiritual task.

padhāna — “striving” — the ‘unrelenting striving’ Dāmali's verse names as what a brahmin should do.

katakicca — “completed their task” — the Buddha's description of the brahmin who has nothing left to do.

pāraṅgata — “reached the far shore” — the closing phrase of both halves of the Buddha's answering verse.

khīṇāsava — “one who has ended defilements” — the final description applied directly to the brahmin the simile describes.

The text

The discourse in full: Dāmali's claim and the Buddha's correcting verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At Sāvatthī. Then, late at night, the glorious godling Dāmali, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side, and spoke this verse in the Buddha’s presence:

§2“This is what should be done by a brahmin: unrelenting striving. Then, with the giving up of sensual pleasures, they won’t hope to be reborn.”

§3“The brahmin has nothing left to do,” said the Buddha to Dāmali, “for they’ve completed their task. So long as a personage fails to gain a footing in the river, they swim with every limb. But someone who has gained a footing and stands on dry land need not swim, for they have reached the far shore.

§4Dāmali, this is a simile for the brahmin, alert, a meditator who has ended defilements. Since they’ve reached the end of rebirth and death, they need not swim, for they have reached the far shore.”

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Self-check quiz

Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 10

What does Dāmali's opening verse claim a brahmin should do?

Correct: A. Dāmali's verse describes an ongoing task of striving.

Question 2 of 10

How does the Buddha respond to Dāmali's claim?

Correct: A. “The brahmin has nothing left to do,” said the Buddha, “for they've completed their task.”

Question 3 of 10

What simile does the Buddha use to make his point?

Correct: A. Someone without footing swims with every limb; someone who has gained footing need not swim.

Question 4 of 10

What phrase closes both halves of the Buddha's answering verse?

Correct: A. The repeated closing phrase links the general simile to its direct application to Dāmali.

Question 5 of 10

Which earlier discourse in this collection does this simile most directly echo?

Correct: A. SN 1.1's flood, crossed “neither standing nor swimming,” shares this discourse's river imagery.

Question 6 of 10

What distinguishes SN 2.5's use of river imagery from SN 1.1's?

Correct: A. A complementary but distinct use of the same imagery, not a repetition of SN 1.1's paradox.

Question 7 of 10

What is the final description applied to the brahmin in this verse?

Correct: A. The closing lines apply the simile directly: reached the end of rebirth and death, no need to swim.

Question 8 of 10

Is this discourse better described as a correction or a simple answer to a question?

Correct: A. Unlike most exchanges in this book, a godling's positive claim is here directly contradicted.

Question 9 of 10

In this collection's use, what does “brāhmaṇa” refer to?

Correct: A. Consistent with this collection's broader reworking of brahmin as a term of attainment.

Question 10 of 10

Where is this discourse set?

Correct: A. The same late-night Jeta's Grove setting used throughout this book's opening discourses.

Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

With Dāmali

Why this discourse