Skip to main content

KN Snp 5.16 pun: king of fools vs. king of death

 rājā = king

mogha = fool 

maccu = death

So maccu-rājā = king of death

our protaganist mogha-rājā = king of fools


No translator from English to pāḷi has captured this pun in translation.

I haven't yet either. Not sure how to do it yet in a way that doesn't become too wordy and possibly divert attention away from the main point of the sutta. 


First funny thing: Mogha-rājā's parents or his contemporary brahmin friends gave him that nick name, perhaps ironically

Just as someone who's tall, his friends may nickname him 'shorty' just to be ironic/humorous with him.

Snp 5.18 notes that 

Todeyya-kappā dubhayo,
both Todeyya and Kappa,
jatukaṇṇī ca paṇḍito;
and Jatukaṇṇī the astute,
Bhadrāvudho udayo ca,
Bhadrāvudha and Udaya,
posālo cāpi brāhmaṇo;
and the brahmin Posala,
Mogharājā ca medhāvī,
Mogharājā the intelligent,
piṅgiyo ca mahāisi.
and Piṅgiya the great hermit:

medhāvī = masc. intelligent man; wise man; who has good judgment; lit. who has wisdom [√medh + ā + vī] ✓


Buddha then puns on Mogha-rāja's name:  king of fools vs. king of death

So maccu-rājā = king of death

our protaganist mogha-rājā = king of fools

see how king of fools defeats king of death at end of sutta


KN Snp 5.16 Mogha­rāja­-māṇava-­pucchā: The Questions of Mogharājā

“Dvāhaṁ sakkaṁ apucchissaṁ,
“Twice I have asked the Sakyan,”
(iccāyasmā mogharājā)
(said Venerable Mogharājā,)
Na me byākāsi cakkhumā;
“but you haven’t answered me, O Seer.
Yāva-tatiyañca devīsi,
I have heard that the divine hermit
Byākarotī’ti me sutaṁ.
answers when questioned a third time.
Ayaṁ loko paro loko,
Regarding this world, the other world,
brahma-loko sa-devako;
and the realm of Brahmā with its gods,
Diṭṭhiṁ te n-ābhijānāti,
I’m not familiar with the view
gotamassa yasassino.
of the renowned Gotama.
Evaṁ abhikkanta-dassāviṁ,
So I’ve come in need with a question
atthi pañhena āgamaṁ;
to the one of excellent vision.
Kathaṁ lokaṁ avekkhantaṁ,
How to look upon the world
Maccu-rājā na passati”.
so the King of Death won’t see you?”

(Buddha says:)

“Suññato lokaṁ avekkhassu,
“Look upon the world as empty,
Mogha-rāja sadā sato;
Mogharājā, always Remembering-and-applying-☸Dharma .
Attānudiṭṭhiṁ ūhacca,
Having uprooted the view of self,
Evaṁ maccu-taro siyā;
you may thus cross over death.
Evaṁ lokaṁ avekkhantaṁ,
That’s how to look upon the world
Maccu-rājā na passatī”ti.
so the King of Death won’t see you.”
Mogha­rāja­-māṇava-­pucchā pannarasamā.
(end of sutta⏹️)


alternative, double pun:  king of emptiness (mogha) uses upekkha directed to emptiness (suññāta) to defeat  king of death

mogha, which usually means stupid or foolish, literally means 'empty'.

So the Buddha could have been making a double pun:

Saying that our king of emptiness (mogha), does vipassana using upekkha (of fourth jhāna) focused on emptiness (suññāta) and seeing not self to defeat king of death.


So which pun do we pick, and how best to translate and retain in the English translation?

“Suññato lokaṁ avekkhassu,
“Look upon the world as empty,
Mogha-rāja sadā sato;
Mogharājā, always Remembering-and-applying-☸Dharma .
Attānudiṭṭhiṁ ūhacca,
Having uprooted the view of self,
Evaṁ maccu-taro siyā;
you may thus cross over death.
Evaṁ lokaṁ avekkhantaṁ,
That’s how to look upon the world
Maccu-rājā na passatī”ti.
so the King of Death won’t see you [, the brahmin named King-of-fools].”
Mogha­rāja­-māṇava-­pucchā pannarasamā.
(end of sutta⏹️)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Advice to younger meditators on jhāna, sex, porn, masturbation

Someone asked: Is porn considered harmful sexual.activity? I don't have a sex life because I don't have a partner and I don't wish to engage in casual sex so I use porn to quench the biological urge to orgasm. I can't see that's it's harmful because nobody is being forced into it. The actors are all paid well and claim to enjoy it etc. The only harm I can see is that it's so accessible these days on smart devices and so children may access it but I believe that this is the parents responsibility to not allow unsupervised use of devices etc. Views? Frankk response: In another thread, you asked about pleasant sensations and jhāna.  I'm guessing you're young, so here's some important advice you won't get from suttas   if you're serious about jhāna.  (since monastics are already celibate by rule)   If you want to attain stable and higher jhānas,   celibacy and noble silence to the best of your ability are the feedstock and prerequiste to tha...
Post a Comment
Read more

SN 48.40 Ven. Thanissaro comments on Ven. Sunyo's analysis

This was Ven. Sunyo's analysis of SN 48.40: https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2024/05/exciting-news-honest-ebt-scholars-like.html And here is Ven. Thanissaro's response to that analysis: I think there’s a better way to tackle the issue of SN 48:40 than by appealing to the oldest layers of commentarial literature. That way is to point out that SN 48:40, as we have it, doesn’t pass the test in DN 16 for determining what’s genuine Dhamma and what’s not. There the standard is, not the authority of the person who’s claiming to report the Buddha’s teachings, but whether the teachings he’s reporting are actually in accordance with the principles of the Dhamma that you know. So the simple fact that those who have passed the Buddha’s teachings down to us say that a particular passage is what the Buddha actually taught is not sufficient grounds for accepting it. In the case of the jhānas—the point at issue here— we have to take as our guide the standard formula for the jhānas, a...
Post a Comment
Read more

1min. video: Dalai Lama kissing boy and asking him to suck his tongue

To give more context, this is a public event,  * everyone knows cameras are rolling  *  it's a room full of children * the boy's mom is standing off camera a few feet away watching all of this * the boy initiated contact, he had already had a hug with Dalai Lama earlier and then asked Dalai Lama for another hug which triggered this segment  17 min. video showing what happened before that 1 min. clip and after, with some explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0qey5Ts78 16min talk from Ajahn Acalo with his thoughts on Dalai Lama kissing boy, relevance to Bhikkhu monastic code, sexual predators in religion in general, and how celibate monastics deal with sexual energy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK2m0TcUib0 The child's comments about the incident in a filmed interview later https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2023/04/18/643eba5d46163ffc078b457c.html The child: It's a great experience It was amazing to meet His Holiness and I think it's a great ex...
Post a Comment
Read more