Reading guide
Renouncing popularity itself, not just possessions
The poem opens (1–3) with an unusual warning: not against wealth or pleasure, but against having a following, visiting respectable families, and accepting homage — ‘honor is a subtle dart, hard to extract, and hard for a reprobate to give up.’ This concern with the dangers of social prestige, rather than sensual pleasure, is distinctive among this collection's opening themes.
The leper's alms, accepted without disgust
Verses four through six give this poem's most famous passage: Mahākassapa courteously stood by while a leper ate, was offered a morsel with the leper's own ‘putrid hand’, and as the morsel was placed in his bowl the leper's finger dropped off. Mahākassapa ate the alms regardless, stating plainly, ‘I did not feel any disgust while eating or afterwards.’ Verse seven generalizes the principle into a catalogue of the ascetic practices (dhutaṅga) he is known for: living on leftovers, rancid urine as medicine, a tree's root as lodging, cast-off rags as robes.
Ascending the mountain, three times over
Verses eight through eleven repeat a refrain three times — ‘returning from almsround, Kassapa ascends the mountain’ — each time closing on a different quality of his absorption: mindful and aware, quenched amid those who burn, his task completed and free of defilements.
An extended, celebrated praise of mountain solitude
Verses twelve through twenty form one of this collection's most sustained passages of nature poetry: nine verses (with one further echo at 18–20) all closing on the same refrain, ‘these rocky crags delight me!’ — garlanded with musk-rose, echoing with elephants and peacocks, glistening like stormclouds, empty of householders and frequented only by deer. Verse twenty-one then makes the point directly: ‘even the music of a five-piece band can never give such pleasure as when, with unified mind, you rightly discern the Dhamma.’
A monkey in a lion's skin, and a lion in a mountain cave
Verses thirty and thirty-one give one of this collection's sharpest single images: a restless, fickle mendicant wearing rag-robes ‘doesn't make them shine — they're like a monkey in a lion skin’, while an alert, restrained one wearing the very same robes ‘shines like a lion in a mountain cave’ — the identical outward practice, entirely different depending on what's inside it.
An embedded scene involving Sāriputta and Mahākappina
Verses thirty-two through thirty-six shift, without explanation, to a third-person scene: 10,000 gods of the Brahmā-world stand with palms cupped, honoring Sāriputta — already named foremost in wisdom in this site's own AN 1.188–197 and Thag 17.2 — confessing they cannot comprehend the basis of his absorption; seeing this homage, the elder Mahākappina (this site's own already-completed Thag 10.3) simply smiles. The poem offers no transition or explanation for this shift in subject before returning, in verse thirty-seven, to Mahākassapa's own first-person voice.
His own claim to foremost austerity, and the legend that follows him
Verse thirty-seven states directly: ‘as far as the range of the Buddha extends... I am distinguished in austerities. I have no equal, apart from the great sage himself’ — confirming, in his own words, this site's own AN 1.188–197 designation. Sujato's own comment on verse 11.4 adds a legend not found in the poem itself: that Mahākassapa still sits in deepest absorption on that same mountain today, waiting for the future Buddha Metteyya, to whom he will present the very rag robes he received from the Buddha Gotama, told in this site's own SN 16.11, Robes.
Key terms
The text
§1“You shouldn’t live for the adulation of a following; it turns your mind, making it hard to get immersion. Seeing that popularity is suffering, you shouldn’t consent to a following.
§2A sage should not visit respectable families; it turns your mind, making it hard to get immersion. If you’re eager and greedy for flavors, you’ll miss the goal that brings such happiness.
§3They know it really is a bog, this homage and veneration in respectable families. Honor is a subtle dart, hard to extract, and hard for a reprobate to give up.”
§4“I came down from my lodging and entered the city for alms. I courteously stood by while a leper ate.
§5With his putrid hand he offered me a morsel. Putting the morsel in my bowl, his finger dropped off right there.
§6Sitting by a wall, I ate that lump of rice. I did not feel any disgust while eating or afterwards.
§7Anyone who makes use of leftovers for food, rancid urine as medicine, the root of a tree as lodging, and cast-off rags as robes, is at ease in any quarter.”
§8“Where some have fallen to ruin while climbing the mountain, there Kassapa ascends; an heir of the Buddha, aware and mindful, owing to his psychic powers.
§9Returning from almsround, Kassapa ascends the mountain, and practices absorption without grasping, with fear and dread given up.
§10Returning from almsround, Kassapa ascends the mountain, and practices absorption without grasping, quenched amongst those who burn.
§11Returning from almsround, Kassapa ascends the mountain, and practices absorption without grasping, his task completed, free of defilements.”
§12“Strewn with garlands of the musk-rose tree, these regions are so delightful, so lovely, echoing with the trumpeting of elephants: these rocky crags delight me!
§13Glistening, they look like blue stormclouds, with waters cool and streams so clear, and covered all in ladybugs: these rocky crags delight me!
§14Like the peak of a blue stormcloud, or like a fine bungalow, lovely, echoing with the trumpeting of elephants: these rocky crags delight me!
§15The rain comes down on the lovely flats, in the mountains frequented by seers. Echoing with the cries of peacocks, these rocky crags delight me!
§16It’s enough for me, who loves absorption, to remain resolute. It’s enough for me, a resolute monk who wants what’s best.
§17It’s enough for me, a resolute monk who loves comfort. It’s enough for me, resolute and unaffected, loving meditation.
§18Covered with flowers of flax, like the welkin covered with stormclouds, full of flocks of many different birds, these rocky crags delight me!
§19Empty of householders, frequented by herds of deer, full of flocks of many different birds, these rocky crags delight me!
§20The water’s clear and the rocks are broad, monkeys and deer are all around; festooned with dewy moss, these rocky crags delight me!”
§21“Even the music of a five-piece band can never give such pleasure as when, with unified mind, you rightly discern the Dhamma.”
§22“Don’t get involved in lots of work, avoid people, and don’t try to acquire things. If you’re eager and greedy for flavors, you’ll miss the goal that brings such happiness.
§23Don’t get involved in lots of work, avoid what doesn’t lead to the goal. The body gets worn out and fatigued, and when you ache, you won’t find serenity.”
§24“You won’t see yourself by merely reciting words, wandering stiff-necked and thinking, ‘I’m better than them.’
§25The fool is no better, but they think they are. The wise don’t praise pompous people.
§26Whoever does not waver due to the discriminations—‘I am better’, ‘I’m not better’, ‘I am worse’, or ‘I am the same’—
§27with such understanding, unaffected, steady in ethics, and devoted to serenity of mind: that is who the wise praise.”
§28“Whoever has no respect for their spiritual companions is as far from the true teaching as the earth is from the sky.
§29Those whose conscience and prudence are always rightly established, thrive in the spiritual life; for them, there are no future lives.
§30When a mendicant who is haughty and fickle wears rags from the rubbish-heap, that doesn’t make them shine: they’re like a monkey in a lion skin.
§31But if they not restless or fickle, alert, with senses restrained, then, wearing rags from the rubbish-heap, they shine like a lion in a mountain cave.”
§32“These many gods powerful and glorious, all 10,000 of them, belong to the host of the Divinity.
§33They stand with cupped palms honoring Sāriputta, the general of the Dhamma, the hero, the serene great meditator:
§34‘Homage to you, O thoroughbred! Homage to you, supreme among men! We don’t understand the basis of your absorption.
§35The profound domain of the Buddhas is truly amazing. We don’t understand, though we’ve gathered here to split hairs.’
§36When he saw the host of gods paying homage to Sāriputta—who is truly worthy of homage—Kappina smiled.”
§37“As far as the range of the Buddha extends, I am distinguished in austerities. I have no equal, apart from the great sage himself.
§38I’ve served the teacher and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions. The heavy burden is laid down, now there’ll be no more future lives.”
§39“Like a lotus flower to which water will not stick, Gotama the immeasurable is unstained by robes, lodgings, or food. He inclines to renunciation, and has escaped the three states of existence.
§40The great sage’s neck is mindfulness meditation; faith is his hands, and wisdom his head. Having great knowledge, he always wanders, quenched.”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.