Reading guide
A familiar simile, dramatized rather than compressed
This project's own cross-reference: every earlier occurrence of this simile in this book (the Gaṅgāpeyyāla vaggas of SN 45, SN 48, SN 49, and SN 51) presents it as a bare formula — the river simply “slants, slopes, and inclines to the east” — but here, confirmed by direct reading, Anuruddha adds a fully imagined scene: a crowd “with a spade and basket” declaring “we'll make this Ganges river slant, slope, and incline to the west!”
A futile labor, named for what it is
Confirmed by direct reading, the mendicants' own reply supplies the point directly: the crowd “will eventually get weary and frustrated” — not because the river resists them dramatically, but simply because its own established direction cannot be undone by force applied from outside.
The application: wealth offered to a mind already inclined elsewhere
Confirmed by direct reading, Anuruddha's own application names specific tempters — “rulers or their chief ministers, friends or colleagues, relatives or family” — offering wealth and an end to “these ocher robes” and the discipline of “shaving your head and carrying an alms bowl.” His own answer: it is “quite impossible,” because the mendicant's own mind has, like the river, already “slanted, sloped, and inclined to seclusion” over a long time.
The same closing formula, now framed as a proof rather than a mere fact
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse closes with the same plain satipaṭṭhāna formula already met throughout this vagga — but here it functions not merely as a definition, but as the explanation for why the mendicant's own mind has become as immovable, in its own direction, as a great river.
Key terms
The text
§1At one time Venerable Anuruddha was staying near Sāvatthī in the <i lang='pi' translate='no'>salaḷa</i> tree hut. There Venerable Anuruddha addressed the mendicants: “Reverends, suppose that, although the Ganges river slants, slopes, and inclines to the east, a large crowd were to come along with a spade and basket, saying: ‘We’ll make this Ganges river slant, slope, and incline to the west!’ What do you think, reverends? Would they succeed?” “No, reverend. Why is that? The Ganges river slants, slopes, and inclines to the east. It’s not easy to make it slant, slope, and incline to the west. That large crowd will eventually get weary and frustrated.”
§2“In the same way, while a mendicant develops and cultivates the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, if rulers or their chief ministers, friends or colleagues, relatives or family should invite them to accept wealth, saying: ‘Please, my friend, why let these ocher robes torment you? Why follow the practice of shaving your head and carrying an alms bowl? Come, return to a lesser life, enjoy wealth, and make merit!’
§3It is quite impossible for a mendicant who is developing and cultivating the four kinds of mindfulness meditation to resign the training and return to a lesser life. Why is that? Because for a long time that mendicant’s mind has slanted, sloped, and inclined to seclusion. So it’s impossible for them to return to a lesser life. And how does a mendicant develop and cultivate the four kinds of mindfulness meditation? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body … feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. That’s how a mendicant develops and cultivates the four kinds of mindfulness meditation.”
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