• Numbered Discourses 9.15 Aṅguttara Nikāya 9.15
  • 2. The Lion’s Roar 2. Sīhanādavagga

The Simile of the Boil Gaṇḍasutta

“Mendicants, suppose there was a boil that was many years old. “Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, gaṇḍo anekavassagaṇiko. And that boil had nine orifices that were continually open wounds. Tassassu gaṇḍassa nava vaṇamukhāni nava abhedanamukhāni. Whatever oozed out of them Tato yaṁ kiñci pagghareyya—would be filthy, stinking, and disgusting. asuciyeva pagghareyya, duggandhaṁyeva pagghareyya, jegucchiyaṁyeva pagghareyya; Whatever exuded from them yaṁ kiñci pasaveyya—would be filthy, stinking, and disgusting. asuciyeva pasaveyya, duggandhaṁyeva pasaveyya, jegucchiyaṁyeva pasaveyya.

‘Boil’ is a term for this body made up of the four principal states, produced by mother and father, built up from rice and porridge, liable to impermanence, to wearing away and erosion, to breaking up and destruction. Gaṇḍoti kho, bhikkhave, imassetaṁ cātumahābhūtikassa kāyassa adhivacanaṁ mātāpettikasambhavassa odanakummāsūpacayassa aniccucchādanaparimaddanabhedanaviddhaṁsanadhammassa. And that boil has nine orifices that are continually open wounds. Tassassu gaṇḍassa nava vaṇamukhāni nava abhedanamukhāni. Whatever oozes out of them Tato yaṁ kiñci paggharati—is filthy, stinking, and disgusting. asuciyeva paggharati, duggandhaṁyeva paggharati, jegucchiyaṁyeva paggharati; Whatever exudes from them yaṁ kiñci pasavati—is filthy, stinking, and disgusting. asuciyeva pasavati, duggandhaṁyeva pasavati, jegucchiyaṁyeva pasavati. So, mendicants, have no illusion about this body.” Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, imasmiṁ kāye nibbindathā”ti.

Pañcamaṁ.